Craft Automotive Group of Lynchburg, Va., said last week that it has signed an agreement to sell its three dealerships to Carter Myers Automotive, a growing dealership group in Charlottesville, Va.
The agreement for Craft Automotive to sell Billy Craft Honda, Billy Craft Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Craft Hyundai, all in Lynchburg, to Carter Myers becomes effective on Aug. 24, according to a statement signed by Craft Automotive President Kendall Craft and confirmed by Carter Myers CEO Liza Borches.
“We’ve known the Craft family for actually a couple of generations now,” Borches told Automotive News. “Mr. Billy Craft and my Dad were in the business together and I’ve known Kendall Craft though the Virginia Auto Dealers Association and have worked with him now for quite a few years.
“It really was important to the Craft family to sell to another family-owned company.”
All Craft associates and general managers will be invited to stay on, Borches said. Carter Myers’ associates, through an employee stock ownership plan, own 26 percent of the company. Borches said her firm’s employee ownership structure was another factor in Craft’s decision to sell his stores to Carter Myers.