Sentry Auto Group Acquires New Bedford Dealership, Adds Third Lincoln-Mercury Store Plus Isuzu Franchise
10 November 2000
Sentry Auto Group Acquires New Bedford Dealership, Adds Third Lincoln-Mercury Store Plus Isuzu Franchise
NEW BEDFORD, Mass., Nov. 10 The Sentry Auto Group
(http://www.sentrycars.com) announced today that it had completed the acquisition of
Tichon Lincoln-Mercury & Isuzu in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The dealership
is now called Sentry Lincoln-Mercury & Isuzu of New Bedford; it is located on
Church Street in New Bedford, just off Route 140 and within minutes of Route
24 and I-195.
"We are very excited about this addition to the company," said Fraser
Lemley, chairman and CEO of Sentry. "With this acquisition, we will be poised
to take advantage of the tremendous growth potential in the city of New
Bedford and the surrounding South Coast communities of Southeastern
Massachusetts," he said. "With all the new products we have coming from
Lincoln-Mercury, and the projected growth of this market area, we think this
dealership will do very well," he continued.
Sentry management also believes the company can add value by sharing costs
and inventories from its other Lincoln-Mercury locations. Sentry President
Chris Lemley (owners@sentryautogroup.com) explained that "in the past, this
dealership might have only had 30 or 40 Lincoln-Mercury vehicles in stock.
Now it will have access to more than 400, because of our other stores. To help
move the inventory between locations, we have purchased our own 7-car carrier.
So if you buy a car in New Bedford that's located in another store, we can
transport it overnight." The acquisition is likely to make the Sentry Auto
Group the largest retailer of Lincoln-Mercury products in the Northeast. On
an annualized basis, had the dealerships been combined this year, they would
have been on pace to sell more than 1800 new Lincoln-Mercury vehicles.
The dealership also has an Isuzu franchise, which is a new marque for the
Sentry Auto Group. "Isuzu has a complete line of SUVs," said Chris Lemley,
"from the Rodeo and the Trooper, to the new Axiom that is coming out next
year, and it will be an excellent complement to Lincoln-Mercury in this
market."
Sentry Auto Group is a group of automobile dealerships located in eastern
Massachusetts. Together, the dealerships employ more than 200 people and have
annual sales of approximately $120 million, including about 4000 new and used
retail sales as well as service, parts, body shop and rent-a-car operations.
Sentry is the largest retailer in metro Boston with both Ford and Lincoln-
Mercury franchises. Sentry has been a leader in customer satisfaction as well,
winning the North American Customer Excellence Award and the Chairman's Award
- Ford Motor Company's highest honor for customer satisfaction. The company's
focus on outstanding service, excellent selection, and competitive prices has
led to steady growth. Sentry's dealerships are known for having a customer-
friendly sales approach that does not rely on deceptive advertising or sales
tactics.
Sentry also operates an award-winning e-commerce website,
http://www.sentrycars.com, that provides a fully interactive Internet experience.
Through http://www.sentrycars.com, customers can buy accessories, reserve a rental
car, search vehicle inventory, research vehicles, get financing, and make
service appointments. The site contains two features exclusive to Sentry - a
Repair Wizard(TM) feature that leads customers through a series of diagnostic
questions while making an appointment, and a Haggle Wizard(TM) feature that
enables customers to select a vehicle and negotiate interactively with the
website. The site received the 1999 Internet Consumers Choice Award, presented
by Ford News.
Sentry of New Bedford is the company's fifth location, joining two other
Lincoln-Mercury dealerships in Boston and Medford, MA, plus the Sentry Used
Car Supercenter and Sentry Ford, both in Medford.