Rumored for months, the Shottenkirk Automotive Group has purchased the Heritage auto locations. Insiders say the sales price could be as high as $60 million.
The Nissan location across from Unity Christian School on the bypass has the new name showcased; even vehicles on the lot have the Shottenkirk logo tags.
The Shottenkirk group, with automobile offerings in six states, took over ownership of the Heritage Automotive Group on Rome on Friday.
John Druckenmiller
Rumored for months, the Shottenkirk Automotive Group has purchased the Heritage auto locations. Insiders say the sales price could be as high as $60 million.
John Druckenmiller
The Nissan location across from Unity Christian School on the bypass has the new name showcased; even vehicles on the lot have the Shottenkirk logo tags.
John Druckenmiller
The Shottenkirk group, with automobile offerings in six states, took over ownership of the Heritage Automotive Group in Rome on Friday.
John Druckenmiller
Signs around the Honda lot on Tuesday reflect the name change of the dealership.
The rebranding of the Nissan, Honda and Hyundai locations on the bypass in Rome is well underway. Temporary signage is up at the dealerships and adjoining buildings. Even the drive-out tags on the cars and trucks on the lot have the Shottenkirk red, white and blue logos.
Shottenkirk took over operations on Friday and signage was up by Monday. The web home of the Heritage dealerships is rebranded “Shottenkirk Nissan Rome,” although the Honda site still had the Heritage logo as of Monday afternoon. Cobranded Facebook pages have the Shottenkirk name.
Donnie Lansdell, general manager of Shottenkirk’s Hyundai dealership in Rome, says the purchase was completed on Friday and “we just hit the ground running.”
New general managers are in place at the Honda and Nissan sites as well, he says, and each location will now “stand on its own two feet.” Because of the management structural changes, additional hiring is underway, he says.
The deal was rumored to close at the end of this month “but the Barron family made things very easy,” Lansdell says. For now, the hours of each franchise will remain the same but he expects that to change soon.
For Lansdell, this is a homecoming. He has strong Rome ties and with this purchase, “It allows me to come back home” from his recent post in Dalton.
The Barrons and Heritage Auto Group go back more than 30 years in Rome. For decades, the Barrons and Welborn families have been associated with auto sales in Northwest Georgia.
As for Shottenkirk, the company was founded in 1964 and has dealerships in Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Illinois, Iowa and California.
The nearest existing dealerships are in Cartersville (Honda); Canton (Hyundai, Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram); and Jasper (Ford). Representing 16 vehicle models in all, the company offers new and used cars and trucks in addition to auto service centers, online options and parts.
The business started as Dean and Bob’s Chevrolet in Abingdon, Illinois, and Bob Shottenkirk soon assumed full ownership. There was a later move to Iowa and Bob’s son Greg took over the company following his father’s death in 1989. It since has grown to 27 dealerships in six states.
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