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January 16, 2009

Grand Traverse Auto to be sold

By BILL O'BRIEN

TRAVERSE CITY -- Grand Traverse Auto, one of the region's oldest car dealers, will be sold to a downstate dealer.

Officials from Fox Motors based in Grand Rapids said Friday they have an agreement to purchase Grand Traverse Auto, 3464 N. U.S. 31 South in Garfield Township. The deal is contingent on approval from the manufacturers of vehicles sold through the dealership, including Ford, Mazda and BMW.

"We do have a purchase agreement that has been signed," said Rick Summers, director of the northwest division of Fox Motors. He expects the deal to close in six to eight weeks once manufacturer approval is received.

"We don't anticipate any problems," he said.

He declined comment on the purchase price. Garfield Township assessment records put the estimated value of the complex for property tax purposes at just over $10 million.

Fox Motors operates 15 dealerships around Michigan, including a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Acme. It also owns Fox Motors in Charlevoix and operates dealerships in Marquette and Negaunee.

Its president and CEO is Dan DeVos, of Grand Rapids, whose family operates Alticor Inc. DeVos also is a director for the Orlando Magic professional basketball team and owns the Grand Rapids Griffins minor league hockey team.

The Sleder family, of Traverse City, owned Grand Traverse Auto for more than 40 years. Its present owners are sisters Jayne and Mary Jo Sleder. They are the daughters of longtime owner Julius Sleder, a former mayor of Traverse City who bought the dealership in 1964. He died in 1999.

Grand Traverse Auto is among the oldest automobile dealers in the region. It dates to 1911 and was established by Milton Bryant, a brother-in-law to Ford Motor Co. founder Henry Ford.

The dealership left its downtown location along West Front Street next to the Record-Eagle in 1996 for a new 80,000-square-foot facility south of Traverse City.

The sale comes amid a serious downturn in the U.S. auto industry. Ford sales fell by 32 percent in December from a year earlier, and total sales for 2008 were down about 21 percent. The company sold 1.98 million vehicles last year, ranking it the No. 3 automaker behind General Motors and Toyota.

"We see opportunity," at Grand Traverse Auto, said Summers, who said the dealership will expand Fox's statewide operations. He also said the company may bring more car brands into the operation.

"We're still evaluating all that," he said. "Mostly what we want to do is strengthen our presence in northwest Michigan."

Summers said he expects most current employees will be retained. Gary Moss, longtime general manager of Grand Traverse Auto, said Friday he's leaving the company. Brian Busscher of Fox will oversee the ownership transition, Moss said.

No decision has been made on a new name for the dealership, although Summers expects the Fox brand name to be incorporated into the change.

"I don't think we're going to get rid of Grand Traverse Auto," he said.

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