Hult stated the Spokane Lexus retailer acquired within the Larry H. Miller deal had been Asbury’s smallest dealership representing Lexus based mostly on automobiles bought and revenues. Asbury had owned the Lexus retailer in Missouri because the late 1990s, he stated, however opted to promote it to place itself again throughout the cap allowed by Lexus.
On the Toyota aspect, Asbury bumped into contiguous market points inside Toyota’s Denver area, Hult stated.
He referred Automotive Information to Toyota for specifics on its cap on dealerships in that market. A Toyota spokesman, in an electronic mail to Automotive Information, stated the model limits what number of dealerships a bunch or particular person can personal in a area, however the allowed variety of shops is dependent upon a number of elements such because the proprietor’s share of regional gross sales.
Hult famous that the boundaries meant Asbury could not preserve each Toyota dealerships acquired in Colorado Springs, for example. So Asbury bought each newly acquired Toyota shops there because the group had no different current dealerships in that metropolis, Hult stated.
Asbury saved a newly acquired Toyota dealership in Albuquerque because it already had different shops in that market, Hult stated. He additionally needed to maintain the Toyota retailer Asbury acquired within the Phoenix space.
Hult stated Asbury labored with Toyota on the gross sales course of and had some flexibility. The group did not need to promote the Spokane Toyota dealership in Washington state, a part of Toyota’s Portland area, Hult stated.
“We selected to promote that one as a result of it was a small retailer,” he stated.
“And if we needed to promote the Lexus retailer [in Spokane], it simply appeared to make sense. It was a greater bundle, placing the 2 shops collectively than promoting Lexus and holding the Toyota retailer there.”
Asbury opted to maintain 5 newly acquired Toyota dealerships within the Denver area: two shops that got here with the Stevinson deal within the Denver space, the bigger of two retailers acquired in Albuquerque from Larry H. Miller, a Larry H. Miller retailer in Peoria, Ariz., and a Larry H. Miller dealership in Murray, Utah.