One of the biggest U.S. auto groups picked up its first Mazda store to grow an already-large California presence.
In a sale between two family-owned auto retail companies, Victory Automotive Group bought San Leandro Mazda in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay area from Harvey Auto Group, bringing Victory’s total dealership holdings to 53, according to Tim Lamb Group, which brokered the transaction.
Harvey Auto bought a former industrial facility in 2018, transforming it into the Mazda store, which opened in December 2020 in the depths of the pandemic. The dealership has 13,000 square feet of showroom space and a 32,000-square-foot parts and service center with 14 bays.
Victory Automotive rebranded the store as Victory Mazda San Leandro and plans to staff it with a mix of the more than 40 existing store employees and some staffers from its own team.
The Michigan-based group, which Jeffrey Cappo launched more than 25 years ago, is spread across 11 states from coast to coast, including in the Midwest, Northeast and the South, and now represents 14 brands. San Leandro Mazda is its 21st California store. Cappo operates the group along with his sons Eric and Michael.
Ken Harvey started Harvey Auto in 1954 with a motorcycle shop in Northern California, transitioning to automobiles as the business expanded, Tim Lamb Group said. It sold the San Leandro Mazda so that Harvey and his son Taz can focus on operating its four Honda stores and two remaining Mazda dealerships.
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