So what do you folks think about the acquisition of FOD by Lithia Motors? https://investors.lithiadriveway.com/press-releases/lbc8blmz0maxu4tpeul
I think it will be a good thing.......my guess is they will have more capital to update their building (or move to a new location) and put more money into the biz. The Russian kid that used to own it did not seem to put much into it (from what I can tell).
I noticed they have already (apparently) done away with the USSV brand. And how many of the very limited production brands will they keep, Karma, Rimac, Pininfarina, and Zenvo? And I never understood why they became a Morgan dealer.
It’s good question. I’m guessing they took on those brands because it was at no cost of them and they figured it might increase their exposure. My guess is the focus on Ferrari, Bentley and Lotus and let the rest go.
I had heard that they already had plans to move to a new location Don't know if that plan was in place before or after this deal, but these deals usually take awhile to finalize.
Derek said most likely the existing building will be turn all Ferrari and they will move Bentley and Lotus somewhere else….or the opposite but sounds like there will be New building regardless. The old owner was looking to build by centennial airport (supposedly) but I think now they will stay in their same general area. These new guys have lots of money - I would not be surprised things move quickly.
I think it was Vaughan that shared the same plans with me during Morgan Adams. I know you are close to the Ranch, going to the FCA Xmas bash tonight? If so, hope to see you there!
I had heard of the new site being over by Park Meadows, south of C470, west of Yosemite. There is vacant land between C470 and Park Meadows Drive in that area. Time will tell. In terms of the buy out, I just want the staff to stay.
Staff will stay. They would be morons to mess with folks who have good relationships with customers (on sales and service side). That said, there is still opportunity. I could help take their service to a new level.
Ken Garff Corporation purchase Steve Harris imports aka Ferrari of SLC. And they have thrown out ungodly mounts of money for the brand. New location, better shop, etc I see a similar situation
Well, I have had FOD's inventory page bookmarked for years and tonight it wouldn't load. I was pleased to see that trying fblod.com forwards you to the new website at https://www.denverexotics.com/ OR https://denver.ferraridealers.com/en-US
Just had annual service done and receipt said Denver Exotics as well. Looks like that's the new direction they're going with the name at least.
Lithia came to Omaha about 15 years ago looking to corner the market here in 'normal' cars, They didn't stay long, I think maybe 5 years tops. All of the dealers in Omaha are owned by just three different families, Lithia could not compete.
That's interesting and surprising. Lithia is a large automotive group. They just knocked AutoNation out of the number 1 sales ranking.
The site is under construction, but I don't think the Inventory pages will change from what you see now.
We have Baxter, Performance Group, and Woodhouse. The first 10(?) years of the Dodge Viper, Woodhouse sold more than anyone in the USA, and nobody was even remotely close, something like 220 a year, they went all over the USA. Bob Woodhouse raced one, that may have something to do with it. I think Woodhouse owns at least one dealership of every marque there is, of course not Ferrari, but everything else, all the normal stuff + Porsche Audi.
Lithia won't really have too much competition on this front. They're the only Ferrari, Bentley and Lotus dealer in the area. They have to compete on some level with Mike Ward but not truly. We'll see how the dealership changes. Been rumblings that they will break Ferrari out into it's own dealership with the other marques going into a different building/location etc, or Ferrari moving to it's own new location, but we'll see.
I was talking to a friend who said he heard that FoD would stand alone and the other brands would leave. They are breaking ground on something just south of Park Meadows. I wonder if that’s the new dealership location. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
See my post #8 above. Very well could be. Last time I drove by FOD, driving on C-470, it looked like the building had larger "Ferrari" signage. Maybe?