Time Auto expands in Oregon
Time Auto Group bolstered its Oregon presence last month with the purchase of its first Stellantis store.
Time Auto on Aug. 18 bought Gresham Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram from Boyland Auto Group CEO Dorian Boyland and partner Daniel Kaiser. The dealership was renamed Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Gresham. Gresham is east of Portland, where Time Auto is based.
“We came into this year and we didn’t really have M&A on our forecast,” Time Auto CEO Daniel Crainic told Automotive News. “But then there were some pretty big changes that happened in the market. It’s been an incredible time for us to acquire some phenomenal assets and I’ve never been more excited about Time Auto Group and our pipeline.”
The acquisition is Time Auto’s first since June 2021, when it bought a Subaru store and a Honda dealership in southern Oregon, Crainic confirmed. The group also owns Volvo, Nissan and Mitsubishi stores, as well as a used-vehicle dealership that specializes in European luxury brands, all in Oregon.
Crainic noted he’s open to expanding outside of Oregon.
“Overall, I’m very committed to the top line growth, but also very committed to the bottom line growth,” Crainic said. “And we’ll continue to do that while being able to participate in this M&A environment.”
The Gresham dealership was the first store that Boyland had purchased, according to Performance Brokerage Services Inc., an Irvine, Calif., buy-sell firm. Moshe Stopnitzky, president of Performance Brokerage Services, along with Jason Stopnitzky, the company’s co-founder, handled the transaction.
Boyland is a former MLB player who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1976. He spent seven years with the Pirates organization, which included the Portland Beavers, a minor-league affiliate.
It was there that Boyland met Ron Tonkin, the late founder of Ron Tonkin Family of Dealerships in Portland, who was an owner of the Beavers. Boyland joined Tonkin’s group and in the mid-1980s, Tonkin acquired a Dodge dealership in Gladstone, Ore., and Boyland was named dealer principal and received an ownership stake. Boyland later sold his stake in the Dodge store to Tonkin and acquired Gresham Dodge, according to a 2011 Automotive News article.
Boyland Auto became one of the largest Black-owned dealership groups in the country and Boyland operated 22 dealerships in six states, according to Performance Brokerage Services.
The Gresham dealership was Boyland’s last in Oregon, Jason Stopnitzky confirmed, noting Boyland still owns two dealerships in Wisconsin and one in Florida.
Billion Automotive buys three dealerships in Minnesota
Billion Automotive of Sioux Falls, S.D., purchased three Minnesota dealerships in March and April, including Ford, Stellantis and Chevrolet stores, all from Marthaler Auto Group, according to The Globe.
Billion Automotive purchased Marthaler Ford of Worthington, Marthaler Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Worthington and Marthaler Chevrolet of Worthington. Worthington is east of Sioux Falls.
The group renamed the stores Billion Ford of Worthington, Billion Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Worthington and Billion Chevrolet of Worthington.
The Ford and Stellantis dealerships sold on March 23, while the Chevrolet store closed on April 8, according to The Globe. A Ford spokeswoman confirmed the Ford dealership transaction date.
The dealerships are Billion Automotive’s only dealerships in Minnesota. Billion Automotive has more than a dozen other dealerships in South Dakota and Iowa.
Marthaler Auto lists six dealerships in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin on its website.
