CARY, N.C. -

NOTE: Updated with more details about Akron Auto Auction's purchase of Value Auto Auction.

Whether it’s among dealer groups, auctions, tech providers or beyond, June has accelerated the auto industry’s momentum in the buy-sell/M&A space.

Lithia Motors & Driveway, for instance, continued its aggressive expansion Tuesday, announcing it has purchased two luxury dealerships in Van Nuys, Calif.: BMW of Sherman Oaks and Acura of Sherman Oaks.

Lithia projects the stores will bring in $185 million in combined annualized revenues. The BMW store is Lithia’s first in Southern California.

“We welcome the BMW of Sherman Oaks and Acura of Sherman Oaks teams to the LAD family,” Lithia president and chief executive officer Bryan DeBoer said in a news release. “We are excited to add our first BMW store in Southern California and capture the significant potential that exists.”

Since announcing a five-year plan in 2020, Lithia is close to $7.1 billion in total expected annualized revenues acquired. While this latest purchase is in Southern California, Lithia has focused on bulking up its footprint in the Southeast and Central US.

“We are well ahead of schedule on the network development portion of our five-year plan,” DeBoer said. “Our network is essential to conveniently and affordably meet the needs of our customers throughout their entire vehicle ownership lifecycle.”

Elsewhere among the public auto retailers, Penske Automotive Group said Friday it has expanded into the Charlotte market, buying Mercedes-Benz of South Charlotte, located in Pineville, N.C. This is its first store in the area.

The wholesale side of the auto industry has been active with M&A-related moves, as well.

This month, Chad Bailey, who is president of Akron Auto Auction, announced on LinkedIn the purchase of Value Auto Auction in Crooksville, Ohio.

More details have since been shared about the purchase. 

Chris and Bob Fahey, who founded Value Auto Auction, will remain as consultants. The Akron partners and management joined them on June 3 for the official first sale and ribbon-cutting.

The purchase occured on June 1. 

"We truly believe that this auction is a diamond in the rough. A strong dealer base, staff focused on exceptional customer service and exponential growth made this a no-brainer," Akron Auto Auction president Chad Bailey said in a news release.

He later added: "What sealed the deal was talking to Bob and Chris and seeing their commitment to their customers and staff as well as their desire to grow on multiple levels.

"Being able to utilize our strong online and national presence as well as focus on the growing markets in southeast and central Ohio, gets our blood pumping on many levels. Factor in our strong in-house finance company that will be incorporated at Value Auto Auction, and we truly believe we are poised for massive success."

In May, KAR Global purchased Auction Frontier, the developer of the Velocicast cloud-based auction simulcast solution. Not only does Velocicast power KAR’s own ADESA Simulcast and Simulcast+ platforms, it also provides the technology behind the simulcast sales of more than 300 wholesale and retail auctions throughout North America and Australia.

Meanwhile, on the tech/software side of automotive, during just the past week:

— Solera Holdings announced that it has completed its acquisitions of Omnitracs, DealerSocket and eDriving.

— CDK Global acquired digital vehicle sales platform Roadster.

— Reynolds and Reynolds announced Tuesday it has bought Gubagoo, a provider of “conversational commerce” and retail solutions for dealers and automakers.