Morgan Auto Group, one of the nation’s largest dealership groups, has purchased five more stores as the company continues to grow its presence in Florida.
Morgan Auto on Sept. 21 bought all five Arrigo Automotive Group dealerships — four Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram stores and an Alfa Romeo-Fiat store, said Jim Arrigo, former majority owner of the dealership group.
The stores — Arrigo Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram at Sawgrass in Tamarac; Arrigo Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Margate; Arrigo Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Fort Pierce; Arrigo Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of West Palm Beach; and Arrigo Alfa Romeo-Fiat of West Palm Beach — will continue to operate under the Arrigo brand name, he said.
Arrigo, 60, said the dealership group was started by his father, Joe Arrigo, in 1989. Jim Arrigo said he, brother John Arrigo, 56, and sister Virginia Arrigo Landrum, 61, owned the dealership group. And while it is “bittersweet,” the family decided it was time to sell and “the right thing to do,” Jim Arrigo said.
“Chrysler was fantastic to us,” he told Automotive News. “I’ve been a tremendous Chrysler fan for many, many years.”
Morgan Auto CEO Brett Morgan said Jim and John Arrigo will continue to do advertising for the stores, though they have no other management or ownership stake in the dealerships.
“They’ve built a great reputation,” Morgan said. “Their facilities are tremendous.”
Morgan said the acquisition also was a strategic move for the company.
“We’ve been dying to get into Southeast Florida for a long time,” he said. “It had to be a deal of some size and scope.”
Morgan Auto now has 42 dealerships in Florida. It also recently opened BMW of Wesley Chapel in a temporary facility and has started construction on a 130,000-square-foot dealership slated to open in 2021.
Morgan Auto of Tampa, Fla., ranks No. 16 on Automotive News‘ list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 36,424 new vehicles in 2019.