Car Pros sold its Kia Huntington Beach location to Sutherlin Automotive Group, marking the buyer’s third location in Southern California.
Sutherlin Automotive Group acquired Car Pros Kia Huntington Beach, which was ranked the No. 1 Kia dealer in Orange County, Calif. in 2025.
The dealership, sold by Car Pros, will now operate under the name Sutherlin Kia Huntington Beach.
The acquisition furthers Sutherlin’s westward expansion after the group first entered the California market last year. Sutherlin, founded in 1972, has locations across the Southeast, including in Alabama and Tennessee.
“This sale made sense as it allows for the future growth of the dealership under an owner already committed to the Orange County market,” said Car Pros CEO Matthew Phillips.
“I want to thank the Car Pros team in Huntington Beach for everything they have built there.”
Car Pros began in 1993 as a small used-car lot and over the years grew to represent Kia, Honda, BMW and Mini across Southern California. Following the sale, the auto group has five locations in the Golden State.
“Given Sutherlin’s recent expansion in the local market, this represented a good strategic option for Car Pros," said Kerrigan Advisors Managing Director Ryan Kerrigan.
Kerrigan Advisors brokered the transaction for the seller, its fourth time representing Car Pros in dealership sales.
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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