From 50 Years of Leadership to a New Chapter in Exotics: Rick Hendrick on the Foreign Cars Italia Acquisition
In this episode of Beyond Blue Sky – A Kerrigan Conversation, Erin Kerrigan sits down with Rick Hendrick, Chairman and CEO of Hendrick Automotive Group, the largest privately held dealership group in the United States, to discuss his 50 years in auto retail and the principles that have shaped one of the industry’s most successful organizations.
The interview takes place in Mr. Hendrick's extraordinary Heritage Center in Charlotte, following Hendrick Automotive Group’s monumental acquisition of Kerrigan Advisors' client Foreign Cars Italia, adding Ferrari, Aston Martin, Bentley, Maserati and Alfa Romeo to the group’s portfolio, along with an additional Porsche franchise. Hendrick shares what attracted him to the ultra-luxury segment, why organic growth and fixed operations remain central to the group’s strategy, and how a people-first culture and commitment to customer service have driven Hendrick Automotive Group’s success.
He also offers his perspective on technology-driven retail models, accelerating industry consolidation, the rising barriers to dealership ownership and the importance of building an organization that can endure for generations.
In this episode:
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Kerrigan Advisors is the leading sell-side advisor and thought partner to auto dealers nationwide. Since its founding in 2014, the firm has led the industry with the sale of over 450 franchises generating more than $11 billion in client proceeds, including three of the largest transactions in auto retail history – the sale of Jim Koons Automotive Companies to Asbury Automotive Group, Leith Automotive to Holman, and Hennessy Automotive Companies to Group 1 Automotive (planned and expected to close in Q4 2026). The firm advises the industry’s leading dealership groups, enhancing value through the lifecycle of growing, operating and, when the time is right, selling their businesses. Led by a team of veteran industry experts with backgrounds in investment banking, private equity, accounting, finance and real estate, Kerrigan Advisors is the only firm in auto retail exclusively dedicated to sell-side advisory, providing its clients with the assurance of a conflict-free approach.
Kerrigan Advisors monitors conditions in the buy/sell market and publishes an in-depth analysis each quarter in The Blue Sky Report®, which includes Kerrigan Advisors’ signature blue sky charts, multiples and analysis for each franchise in the luxury and non-luxury segments. To download a preview of the report, click here. The firm also releases monthly The Kerrigan Index™ composed of the seven publicly traded auto retail companies with operations focused on the US market. The Kerrigan Auto Retail Index is designed to track dealership valuation trends, while also providing key insights into factors influencing auto retail. To read the 2025 Kerrigan Dealer Survey, click here. To read the 2026 Kerrigan OEM Survey, click here. Kerrigan Advisors is also the co-author of NADA’s Guide to Buying and Selling a Dealership. Additionally, Kerrigan Advisors publishes a podcast, Beyond Blue Sky – A Kerrigan Conversation, where Kerrigan Advisors’ clients and industry leaders share the mindset, strategy and personal stories behind a once-in-a-generation transaction.
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