Canadian retailer Foundation Automotive enters Tennessee with purchase of four dealerships

Growing Canadian retailer Foundation Automotive Corp. has entered a new state and added a new brand, Nissan, to its portfolio with its latest acquisition of dealerships.

Foundation Automotive bought Jones Buick-GMC, Jones Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Jones Nissan in Savannah, Tenn., and Jones Chevrolet Humboldt in Humboldt, Tenn., from Jones Motor Co. on Friday, according to Andy Gill, CEO of Gill Automotive Group, a sell-side firm in St. Augustine, Fla., who represented the sellers in the deal.

Foundation is retaining the dealership names.

Savannah is east of Memphis and just north of the Mississippi and Alabama borders. Humboldt is northwest of Savannah.

Jones Motor Co., owned by brothers Clark Jones and Charlie Jones as well as Chad Jones, Clark’s son, still owns Jones Ford in Savannah, which was not included in the sale to Foundation, Gill said.

Foundation said Chad Jones “will continue to work with Foundation Automotive as an executive under the expansion of the used-car platform” for each of the group’s dealerships.

“The used-car platform they have built at Jones Motor Co. is second-to-none, and we are fortunate to have Chad Jones on board to help expand it to all of our stores,” Foundation CEO Kevin Kutschinski said in a statement.

The Canadian group, which bought two stores and sold one in 2021, has been in growth mode this year.

In February, Foundation bought five franchised dealerships, plus a used-vehicle dealership and two RV dealerships in Wichita Falls, Texas. And in March, the group bought a Stellantis dealership south of Houston.

Foundation, of Calgary, Alberta, has a U.S. base in Houston. In addition to Tennessee and Texas, the group has dealerships in Colorado and North Dakota, as well as three in Canada.