Growing Morgan Automotive Group, one of the largest privately owned U.S. dealership groups, purchased two more stores in its hometown of Tampa, Fla., adding a pair of domestic dealerships to its lineup.
Morgan Automotive bought Jim Browne Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram Tampa Bay and Jim Browne Chevrolet Tampa from dealer Jim Browne. A transaction date wasn’t immediately available.
The stores will be renamed Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Tampa Bay and Morgan Chevrolet of Tampa Bay. They mark the group’s 54th and 55th dealerships, of which 23 are in the Tampa area.
Morgan Automotive CEO Brett Morgan told Automotive News in an email Wednesday that the group wanted to buy the stores because they were in “our backyard in Tampa” and are close to recent dealership acquisitions. Morgan said the purchase also marks the group’s first metro Chevy dealership. There is an opportunity for boosting used-vehicle sales at both dealerships, he said.