Dealer news: Pedens begin their growth; Greenway renews deal with CDK
Thomas and Ashley Peden are building a dealership group.
The brother-sister partnership have acquired three stores on the Ohio-West Virginia state line from Richard Nourse of the Nourse Family of Dealerships, according to the Tim Lamb Group, which worked with the seller in the transaction.
The dealerships — Pioneer Chevrolet and Family Ford Lincoln in Marietta, Ohio and Pioneer Honda in Parkersburg, W.Va. — are all within 15 miles of each other, and are 45 minutes from where the Pedens grew up in West Virginia. They represent the first acquisitions made by the Pedens since Thomas Peden entered the business with the purchase of Honda and Toyota dealerships in Zanesville, Ohio in 2020.
Thomas brought Ashley into the business to run the Honda store, and she is now a partner in the new acquisitions. The Pedens are third-generation dealers and have designs on continuing to grow.
In an interview with the Zanesville Times Recorder following his purchase in 2020, Thomas Peden said, “These are my first two dealerships. I want to own 100. We will grow them, and give back to the town.”
Pioneer Honda has been renamed Parkersburg Honda. Pioneer Chevrolet will keep its name, and Family Ford Lincoln is now Pioneer Ford Lincoln.
The sale ends Nourse’s involvement in the market after more than 35 years. He’ll focus on his remaining five dealerships in Chillicothe, Ohio.
“I hadn’t contemplated selling, but when I was presented with the opportunity to sell to the Pedens I really had to consider it,” Nourse said in a news release. “I’ve heard great things about the Pedens and the accomplishments they have achieved in the Zanesville market, and I knew they would be great stewards to continue what we have built in the community.”
Greenway extends agreement with CDK
Another big dealer group has reupped with CDK.
Greenway Automotive Group, one of the nation’s largest privately held dealership groups, has renewed its agreement with the auto retail software provider.
In a news release, CDK said Greenway will provide its dealerships with the CDK Dealership Xperience, as well as its CRM and fixed operations systems. Greenway, which operates 35 locations in seven states, joined with CDK in 2020.
“Extending our partnership with CDK provides us continued access to a best-in-class integrated dealership technology platform,” Greenway president Carl Atkinson said. “CDK has been instrumental in our success, and we value the relationship. Together, we’re embracing and leveraging innovation to run Greenway’s business efficiently and profitably while providing the best customer experience possible.”
In June, CDK, which is used by the majority of U.S. franchise dealerships, was the victim of a ransomware attack that shut down its dealership software for two weeks, disrupting operations for thousands of dealerships and costing the retail industry more than $1 billion, according to the Anderson Economic Group.
Greenway is the third major North American dealership group to renew its deal with CDK since then, joining Sonic Automotive and AutoCanada.
“Our partnership with Greenway is a testament to the continued research and development investments we’re making in areas that matter most to dealers and the work our employees do every day to serve our customers,” CDK president and CEO Brian MacDonald said in a news release. “By renewing into the Dealership Xperience platform, Greenway will leverage simplified workflows, streamlined data and flexible experiences for their dealerships and consumers — ultimately resulting in simpler transactions and reduced wait times.
“I look forward to continuing working hand-in-hand with them going forward.”