The Suburban Collection has sold its numerous Metro Detroit dealerships to Lithia Motors of Medford, Oregon.
The move boosts Lithia’s position in the North Central region and is projected to grow the firm’s annualized revenues by $2.4 billion. Yahoo! Finance reported that it “was funded through the capital raised in concurrent equity and debt offerings in late 2020.” The acquisition will be a great addition to Lithia Motors’ digital platform called Driveway.
“Consumers have been saying for years they want to do more of the sales process online, and they want pickup and delivery and things like that,” Autotrader analyst Michelle Krebs told ClickOnDetroit. “Well, during the pandemic, that’s the only way we could sell cars, and so we are seeing a move towards more of the process like that online."
Initially established as an Oldsmobile dealership in Birmingham, Michigan, in 1948, the Suburban Collection became the 12th-largest dealer group in the country with foreign and domestic name plates in five states and operations also in Canada, ClickOnDetroit reported.
In its more than seven decades of existence, the Suburban Collection has made its name in 34 locations with 56 different franchises carrying 33 brands and supported by 2,250 employees.
David Fischer, Jr., who leads Suburban Collection, will work with the new owners, and current employees are expected to stay with the company as well. If demand increases within Driveway, more employees could be hired. The Suburban Collection auto group was founded by Richard Fischer, David's grandfather.
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