Interview with Blue Grass Motorsport

Founded in 1965 by Herb Vine and owned by brothers Andy and Mike Vine and their brother-in-law Jim Haynes, Blue Grass Motorsport is Louisville’s exclusive retailer for Porsche, Jaguar Land Rover and Audi and the only Porsche and Jaguar Land Rover franchises in Kentucky. In 2025, the Vine and Haynes family hired Kerrigan Advisors to sell their dealerships to Columbus, Ohio-based Germain Motor Company.

How did your family get into the car business?

Andy Vine: My dad, Herb Vine, came back after World War II and became the  general manager at Monarch Lincoln-Mercury in downtown Louisville. Ford came to town looking for a candidate for a second point, which they offered to Monarch. When the owner passed, my dad raised his hand, taking a big risk to go out on his own. In 1965, he opened his first Lincoln-Mercury store on Shelbyville Road. Then, Jim joined in 1978, I came along in 1984, and Mike joined in 1987.

What prompted you to sell your family’s valuable group?

Jim Haynes: When we built this campus in 2005, it was very bold. We had a vision and were willing to stretch our capital, which worked well. Then, Porsche announced their facilities for the Gen 5 image. Instead of having more free cash flow with our mortgage paid off, we were going to have to finance a new, very expensive building. My partners and I were apprehensive about taking on more debt, which is one of the reasons we decided to sell. One of my dear friends in the car business, Linda Leith, worked with Kerrigan on her business’ transition to a new owner. After talking with Linda, I got more comfortable with the sale process, and we decided to move forward.

Mike Vine: Real estate was a real factor in our decision to sell. We just finished paying off our last image upgrade, and then our OEM was asking us to build another store. It was a shame – we were one of the best-performing dealerships, we won all the awards, and yet doing it right doesn’t mean you get to avoid ridiculous building requirements.

Andy: Given our ages, we started thinking about a sale two years ago. It took some time for us to get on the same page, but we are now all excited about the next chapter. When we heard that Kerrigan represented on the Leith sale, Jim spoke with her, and she had nothing but the highest regards for Erin Kerrigan and her team. That really put us at ease to make the decision to sell.

As a family-run business, what was the hardest part of the sale?

Andy: The hardest part was making sure we found the right buyer to take care of our customers and employees the way we did. We worked hard to find a great private buyer – the Germains are a fourth-generation dealer family with a similar history to ours. Their great-grandfather was Henry Ford’s personal accountant, and he started with Mercury, just like my dad. The Germain family has similar values to ours – they are all about winning the manufacturer awards and taking care of their employees and  the customer. We could not have found a better fit!

Jim: Being a dealer can be your identity – you put your entire being into your business, your relationships, your customers and your employees. You become recognized in your community, and it is very special. Now as I transition to the “unknown,” I need to reinvent myself– that is probably the hardest part.

"Ultimately, I think passing the torch from one generation to the next is the biggest hurdle for private, family-owned dealership groups." — Jim Haynes

How do you feel the industry has changed in recent years relative to your family’s 60-year history?

Mike: The real change came from the brands we acquired. It was one thing to be an auto dealer and another thing to be a luxury dealer. We started as a Mercury dealer, then grew to Isuzu and Hyundai. When we transitioned to top luxury manufacturers (Porsche, Jaguar Land Rover and Audi), we were really well-positioned as a single-point dealer serving not only Louisville but all of Kentucky. The luxury car market grew a lot, and our business became much more valuable.

Andy: The OEMs have become much more hands-on. The German and British brands really have their hand on the pulse, and they’re very, very involved in your business. For the most part, they’re really there to help you provide a great experience, take care of the customer and really get your technicians and salespeople trained. I think it is good, but I don’t think my dad in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s would have been able to handle how involved the OEMs are today.

What do you think will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for private, family-owned-and-operated dealership groups over the next decade?

Jim: The biggest challenge will be bringing in subsequent generations that have the ability to work in and understand the business or, if they don’t understand it, have the ability to hire people to run the business in a professional manner. Ultimately, I think passing the torch from one generation to the next is the biggest hurdle for private, family-owned dealership groups.

Mike: If you run your business properly, have good people and compensate them well, and make the customer your No. 1 priority, you are going to be successful, regardless of your size or if you are public or private.

Do you expect to see more consolidation in our industry?

Andy: I think we are in the middle innings of industry consolidation in auto retail. I think there will continue to be a lot of consolidation, whether it’s by private equity, publics or growing family-owned groups. There are a lot of mom-and-pop family businesses out there that might not have the next generation coming around, and it’s going to open up the opportunity for more acquisitions and more dealership buy/sells in the future.

Jim: That’s been the trend ever since I’ve been in the business. If you’re too small, it’s hard to grow and compete with the bigger groups. However, if you are going to grow, you have to have talent. My biggest concern, as you grow, is how to maintain that community feel. That’s the biggest challenge with consolidation.

What’s your outlook for auto retail in 2025 and beyond?

Mike: I don’t think the OEMs are done at all passing along higher pricing due to the tariffs. It is tricky ground we are walking right now, but the world’s not going to stop. People will still need to buy and service their cars, and dealers will figure out a way to make money.

Jim: Car dealers are flexible, and they’re resilient.  Everything’s been thrown at them, and they’ve survived. There’s an entrepreneurial spirit - when your own money’s on the line, you’ve got to figure out what to do! And you do!

Andy: I believe the next couple of years are actually going to be very, very good, especially for our brands. We’ve got a lot of great product coming.

Why did you and your family choose Kerrigan Advisors to advise you in your sale?

Jim: I had seen Erin speak at NADA in Las Vegas, and during that session, I made up my mind that I wanted to pick Kerrigan Advisors to sell our family business when the time was right. It was her professionalism and her grasp of the numbers. The number of transactions Kerrigan has completed gives them a great feel for the market. The firm also has a group of experienced auto accountants and a finance team that works with your accounting team to prepare the adjusted financials with tremendous accuracy.  Kerrigan Advisors is the perfect matchmaker.  

Andy: I loved the idea of a sell-side-exclusive advisor. I love Erin’s group. Kerrigan Advisors has great talent, and they have tremendous experience. I really liked their approach to marketing our group. Given confidentiality risks, we didn’t want to sell to a local dealer. What Kerrigan Advisors brought to the table was a group of reputable buyers who were looking for the types of brands we represented and would maintain confidentiality. Kerrigan made it as comfortable an experience as possible and gave us the confidence that we had put our trust in a firm that was going to look out for us and our family’s business and find the right buyer who would continue the Blue Grass Motorsport legacy.

Mike: We had always heard that Kerrigan Advisors was wonderful to work with. Once we met with Erin and Ryan, we knew we were in the right hands. We couldn’t be happier to pay their commission for a job very well-done.