Dealer news: Another big deal for Penske; Car Pros recognized as region’s largest LGBTQ+-owned business
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Image courtesy of Penske Automotive Group, Inc.
Another day, another major acquisition for Penske Automotive Group.
The global automotive giant added another dealership Tuesday with the purchase of Bill Brown Ford in Livonia, Mich., from Tom and Ruth Ann Brown.
The dealership, founded in 1940, has been named the nation’s highest volume Ford dealer each of the past three years and claims to be the world’s largest seller of the Ford F-150 pickup, America’s best-selling vehicle for more than 40 years.
It has earned Ford’s President’s Award for 19 consecutive years and the automaker’s Triple Crown Award for the past seven years.
“For decades, Bill Brown Ford has been building partnerships within its community by creating an environment that focuses on exceeding the expectations of its customers and empowering its employees,” Penske North American operations officer Rich Shearing said in a news release. “We look forward to cultivating those partnerships and welcome the employees of Bill Brown Ford to the Penske Automotive Group team.”
The deal includes more than 200,000 square feet of existing facilities on 29 acres, including the main dealership as well as a pre-owned facility, fleet maintenance center and collision center.
Penske, which owns more than 500 dealerships worldwide and operates in nine countries on four continents, said the latest acquisition is expected to add $550 million in estimated annualized revenue. So far in 2024, the company said, it has completed acquisitions representing nearly $2 billion in estimated annualized revenue.
For 50 years, Bill Brown Ford was led by Ed Brown, who died in March 2023, passing the dealership to his children.
“To say that Ford Motor Company has been transformational to our family and all the employees at Bill Brown Ford would be an understatement,” Ruth Ann Brown said. “There is no better organization than Penske Automotive Group to lead Bill Brown Ford into the future and represent Ford Motor Company.”
Car Pros tops list of Puget Sound’s largest LGBTQ+-owned companies
Car Pros Automotive Group was ranked No. 1 on the Puget Sound Business Journal’s 2024 list of the 20 largest LGBTQ+-owned companies in the Seattle-Tacoma area.
The list ranks companies with at least 51% LGBTQ+ ownership by 2023 revenue with headquarters in the Puget Sound region, defined as King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties in Washington state.
Car Pros, based in Renton, Wash., operates with nine dealerships in Western Washington and Southern California with more than 700 employees and sells more than 2,400 cars per month, reaching record sales of more than $1 billion in 2023. It has been ranked among the nation’s top 50 dealer groups in new vehicle sales for the past two years and its Kia Glendale dealership finished 2023 as the nation’s top seller of new Kias.
The company’s three dealerships in Western Washington reported revenue of $344.52 million for 2023, more than the other companies on the list combined.
Car Pros is 100% LGBTQ+ owned and employs 234 in the Puget Sound area.
“My family and I started Car Pros in Tacoma in 1993,” Car Pros CEO and owner Matthew Phillips said, “and more than 30 years later, I am proud that Car Pros continues to be an integral part of the Puget Sound community, contributing to the growth of Washington state’s leading economic region. Many thanks to the Puget Sound Business Journal for this honor.”
In a news release, Car Pros said Phillips, as one of the few openly LGBTQ+ dealers in the U.S., has “empowered people from under-represented groups to succeed in a workplace where respect, equity and inclusivity are pillars of the company’s culture.”
He was recognized in 2023 as one of Automotive News’ Notable Champions of Diversity, awarded the Silver Stevie Award for Maverick of the Year in the American Business Awards, and named one of Puget Sound Business Journal’s 11 Business of Pride Outstanding Voices.
In 2023, Car Pros dealerships earned Auto Remarketing’s Best CPO Dealers honors, the Kia President’s Club Award for exceptional customer service and sales success, and the Honda Masters Circle award for the nation’s top 50 Honda dealerships. This year, four Car Pros locations were named as J.D. Power Dealers of Excellence for Customer Sales Experience.
“This recognition,” Phillips said, “among others, is made possible by our outstanding Car Pros team who are dedicated to our mission of changing lives through high-performance and values-led dealerships, and committed to creating opportunity through excellence.”