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AUTOMOTIVE: Shelly beefs up luxe footprint with moves
Shelly Automotive Group is on the move in every sense of the word.
It pounced on two deals last week, adding Jaguar of San Diego and Lexus of Riverside to its portfolio of luxury brands and about $150 million in sales to push its annual revenue to about $750 million.
"What we believe we are good at is selling luxury automobiles in the Southern California market," said the group's founder and chief executive, Damon Shelly, who also owns Shelly BMW in Buena Park and Mercedes-Benz of Long Beach. "These were two opportunities to get involved with two great brands within a drive from our head office in Irvine. It's the same kind of customer that we've been serving for the last 27 years ... so it seemed like a great fit for us."
The Lexus acquisition included associated real estate. The business was owned by Dan Davidson, who died this year. General Manager Sandy Austell is staying on, as is the majority of her staff, Shelly said.
"It's a healthy business, but we see a lot of opportunity to make improvements," he added. "We got a plan."
Jaguar of San Diego,...