One of Maryland’s largest private car dealerships has added a 93-year-old Ford dealership in Bel Air to its holdings.
Bob Bell Automotive Group acquired Plaza Ford from the Walls family, giving it a flagship operation on one of Harford County's main auto retail corridors. Kerrigan Advisors, a car dealership consulting firm that represented the Walls family in the deal, announced the sale Monday. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Plaza Ford has a long history in Bel Air. The dealership was founded in 1933 and has been owned by the Walls family since Ralph Walls, who had been working as the dealership's bookkeeper, acquired it in 1962. The nearly 25-acre dealership at 1701 Belair Road had already changed its name to Bob Bell Ford by Monday's announcement.
“Our family is proud of the legacy our team has built at Plaza Ford, and we are excited about the growth opportunities this transition creates for our employees,” Tom Walls, co-owner of Plaza Ford, said in a release. “Joining a multi-franchise group like Bob Bell Automotive Group opens meaningful new doors for the people who have been at the heart of this dealership for decades. We are excited for our employees and their next chapter with Bob Bell.”
The deal gives Bob Bell control of seven dealerships in Maryland. The Glen Burnie company already owned one Ford, two Chevrolet, one Hyundai, one Kia and one Nissan dealership across the Baltimore region.
Harford County's high median household income and rapidly growing population were key draws for Bob Bell, according to the release from Kerrigan. Plaza Ford is surrounded by other car dealerships on Belair Road, including a Volkswagen dealership, a Kia dealership and a Honda dealership.
"The dealership’s position in the center of the Mid-Atlantic region, combined with Ford’s standing as a top domestic franchise in the US, made Plaza Ford an extraordinarily compelling opportunity for the Bob Bell Automotive Group," Gabe Robleto, director of Kerrigan Advisors, wrote in the release.
Bob Bell Automotive Group did not respond to a Baltimore Business Journal request for comment.
The move is part of a wave of car dealership acquisitions over the past two years. Last year, Florida company AutoNation acquired Jerry’s Toyota in White Marsh, and Apple Ford Lincoln acquired O'Donnell Honda in Ellicott City. Outside of the Baltimore metro area, Brandon Steven Motors paid nearly $500 million for a portfolio of 12 auto dealerships in Southern Maryland.
The large profit margins in car sales make it an appealing industry for outside capital and potential acquirers. The boom may slow this year as the Iran War, tariffs and the loss of federal electric vehicle credits dull the market for new cars.
“Today’s growing dealers are moving from playing checkers to chess — making precise, market-driven acquisitions that expand their local dominance, optimize their franchise portfolios and position their groups for long-term success with added geographic scale,” said Erin Kerrigan, founder and managing director of Kerrigan, in a press release. “Bob Bell Automotive Group recognized the exceptional opportunity Plaza Ford represented to expand their presence in a market in which they already have a presence and add a premier Ford franchise.”
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 more than 300 dealerships generating more than $10 billion in client proceeds, including two of the largest transactions in auto retail history – the sale of Jim Koons Automotive Companies to Asbury Automotive Group and Leith Automotive to Holman. 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 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®, the industry authority on dealership buy/sell market trends and valuations and 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 The Kerrigan Index™ comprised 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 access The Kerrigan Index™, click here. To read the 2024 Kerrigan Dealer Survey, click here. To read the 2025 Kerrigan OEM Survey, click here. Kerrigan Advisors also is the co-author of NADA’s Guide to Buying and Selling a Dealership.
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