Nimey family acquires new-car dealership in New York
Lee Buick-GMC Trucks became Matt Nimey Buick-GMC on Sept. 19, with the Nimey family acquiring the Boonville, N.Y., dealership from the Lee family.
This is the Nimey family’s first new-car dealership, owner Matt Nimey said. The family’s automotive ties began in 1964 with a Utica, N.Y., used-car dealership that Matt began to run alongside his parents in 1999. Boonville is north of Utica.
The new-vehicle store is a next step in the Nimeys’ expansion plans, Matt said, adding he had previously purchased a vehicle from the Lee family and was familiar with the dealership. Most staff remained following the ownership transition.
“We’re going to try to perfect what we have and continue to grow and scale,” he told Automotive News. “And with the team that we have currently, I don’t see any limits.”
The Nimeys will offer an expanded used-car selection at the Buick-GMC store.
The family also wants to keep the hometown, family-business feel at the new dealership, said Cindy Nimey, Matt’s mother. The two run both dealerships together.
“We’re not a big conglomerate coming in and taking over and changing things and making it more [of] a corporate world,” Cindy said. “We like treating our employees like family, and we want to keep that feel here.”
The Buick-GMC dealership’s previous ownership also has long-standing family ties. The Lee family joined the Boonville automotive retail landscape in 1953.
“Matt and Cindy are all about family, and we know they’ll treat our team and our customers with the same care we always have,” Randy Lee, former vice president at Lee Buick-GMC Trucks, said in a statement. “They have the same values we do.”
Timbrook Automotive adds first Hyundai dealership
Timbrook Automotive on Sept. 30 acquired Hamilton Hyundai in Chambersburg, Pa., marking the group’s first Hyundai dealership, said Dave Ainsworth, partner and Pennsylvania platform manager at Timbrook.
The Cumberland, Md., group wanted to work with the Hyundai brand because it has handled inventory shortage challenges well and has successfully launched several electric vehicles, Ainsworth said.
The dealership was renamed Chambersburg Hyundai and is Timbrook Automotive’s third Pennsylvania dealership. Chambersburg is in south-central Pennsylvania.
The group operates 12 new-vehicle dealerships, with locations also in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. It also sells Kia, Ford, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Honda and Nissan vehicles. And it has two powersports stores.
The sellers, Rick Hamilton and Ken Shreve, share many of the same missions and values as Timbrook, Ainsworth said.
The store “had a great core base, and we’ll build upon it and grow,” Ainsworth said.
Timbrook Automotive, headed by President Fred Timbrook, also plans next year to begin a revamp and expansion of the dealership under Hyundai’s facility image program, Ainsworth said. The improvements will include EV infrastructure and a new showroom.
In May 2021, Fred Timbrook, Ainsworth and Lee Wilson of Timbrook Automotive bought Hazleton Honda in Hazle Township, Pa., from Lithia Motors Inc.
Rob Lee, director of the Northeast region for buy-sell firm Tim Lamb Group in Columbus, Ohio, represented the seller in the Hyundai dealership transaction.