Anderson Automotive Group expands in South Carolina

Anderson Automotive Group expanded its presence in South Carolina with the purchase of five stores last month, which Automotive News believes is the largest dealership acquisition by store count so far in 2023.

Anderson Automotive in Raleigh, N.C., on Jan. 30 bought Breakaway Honda, Bradshaw Acura, Bradshaw Infiniti and Bradshaw Mazda, all in Greenville, S.C., and Bradshaw Chevrolet-Buick-GMC-Cadillac of Greer in Greer, S.C., from William Bradshaw, owner of Bradshaw Automotive Group, according to Michael Anderson, the group's CEO. Anderson said these were all of Bradshaw's dealerships.

The stores were renamed Fred Anderson Honda, Fred Anderson Acura, Fred Anderson Mazda, Fred Anderson Infiniti of Greenville and Fred Anderson Chevrolet-Buick-GMC-Cadillac. Fred Anderson, Michael's father, is the group's chairman.

Greenville and Greer are both west of Spartanburg and are part of South Carolina's upstate region, Michael Anderson said.

Michael Anderson, a 2017 Automotive News 40 Under 40 honoree, said this was the group's first acquisition since it bought a Subaru dealership in Asheville, N.C., in 2020.

"We've been working with brokers and banks and networking ourselves to try to find the right opportunities," Anderson told Automotive News. "And we've probably said no more often than we've said yes. But this one being a five-store group was a great way for us to make a large acquisition, but [also] get a good strong foothold into the Upstate market, the Greenville market, and we hope to continue to expand that."

Honda, Acura, Mazda and Infiniti are new brands for the group, Anderson said, while the acquisition marked a return to General Motors. Anderson said the group previously owned GM dealerships in western North Carolina.

"We've been trying to get a Honda opportunity for a long time," Anderson said. "We just haven't been able to put one together. That was kind of the crown jewel of this opportunity for us was the Honda store in Greenville."

Anderson said a new Mazda dealership is under construction and the group plans to build a new Acura facility within three years. Anderson Automotive also plans to refresh the interior of the Honda dealership, he added.

JT Taylor, managing director of automotive retail at Truist Securities, represented the seller in the transaction.

Anderson Automotive, which now has 13 dealerships across the Carolinas, ranks No. 68 on the most recent Automotive News list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 13,906 new vehicles in 2021.