Toyota, Ford and Stellantis dealerships sell across 4 states

Fletcher Jones buys L.A.-area Toyota store

Fletcher Jones Automotive Group has purchased a Los Angeles-area Toyota dealership — Carson Toyota, the 16th new-car store in the Las Vegas company’s portfolio.

The store was renamed Fletcher Jones Toyota of Carson, according to DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company, which brokered the Feb. 27 deal for the buyer and sellers. George Pero, DCG Acquisitions’ national vice president of sales, was the broker.

“The multiples on dealerships have been very nice the last couple years,” Dan Pennington, a former co-owner, along with the Skinner family, told Automotive News. “It encouraged us to make the choice” to sell the store, he said.

Carson Toyota had been a family-run operation since Don Pennington — Dan’s late father — and partner Bert Skinner purchased it in 1974. Dan subsequently entered the family business, and after Skinner died in 2021, Dan decided it was a good time to cash out.

Dan Pennington, 65, said he’s going to take some time to decide what to do next.

“I’ve taken the last couple of months to reintroduce myself to my wife,” he said. “I’m enjoying that, but I’m not sure yet whether I’ll become fully retired.”

DCG Acquisitions CEO Dave Cantin, in an email, confirmed that the buy-sell market “is scorching. Even with interest rates three times higher than last year, buyers are still aggressively seeking opportunities.”

Fletcher Jones has been retailing vehicles since 1946, when founder Fletcher Jones Sr. opened his first store, a used-vehicle lot, in downtown Los Angeles.

In December, the group bought Circle Audi and Circle Porsche, in Long Beach, Calif. Today, the company operates dealerships in California, Nevada, Illinois and Hawaii.

Fletcher Jones ranks No. 42 on Automotive News‘ list of the top 150 U.S.-based dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 18,876 new vehicles in 2022.