The "If you want it, we Gossett!" marketing slogan played consistently on local TV and radio for years. Now, that applies to a deal struck with the nation's largest auto retailer.
Oregon-based Lithia & Driveway acquired four dealerships from Gossett Motor Cars in a deal disclosed in the publicly traded company's third quarter earnings on Oct. 21. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
"We acquired four Gossett Hyundai and Kia stores in Memphis, Tennessee, adding $250 million in expected annualized revenues and strengthening our presence in the Southeast region," Lithia chairman and CEO Bryan DeBoer said on the company's Q3 2026 earnings call.
Gossett sold to Lithia its Kia dealerships at 1900 Covington Pike and 2680 Mt. Moriah Road, and Hyundai dealerships at 1956 Covington Pike and 2660 Mt. Moriah.
Gossett's remaining Memphis-area locations include Audi, Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram, Fiat, Genesis, Infiniti, Mitsubishi, Porsche, and Volkswagen dealerships. Gossett Motor Cars ranked No. 24 on MBJ's Top 100 Private Companies list with an estimated $470 million in 2025 revenue and nearly 500 employees, according to MBJ research.
“Serving Memphis has been a privilege for our family, and I am proud of the Gossett team, whose hard work and dedication made these dealerships what they are today,” Al Gossett, president, CEO, and founder of Gossett Motor Cars, said in a statement. “This was a strategic decision for our group. It allows our team to focus our efforts on our remaining eight dealerships, and Lithia’s recent expansion in Memphis made them the right partner for our Kia and Hyundai stores."
Lithia has been on a dealership buying spree in the Memphis market in recent years. The company acquired Sunrise Buick GMC at Wolfchase and Sunrise Chevrolet Buick GMC at Collierville from Sunrise Auto Group in 2024, and then bought Mercedes-Benz of Collierville in 2025.
Kerrigan Advisors represented Gossett in the dealership deal with Lithia. Gossett's legal counsel included Holland & Knight's Stephen Dietrich, Sarah Seedig, and Kyla Baker and Edward Bearman of the Law Office of Edward M. Bearman.
Lithia had $37.6 billion in 2025 revenue, ranking No. 123 on the Fortune 500 list, which placed it as the No. 1 largest U.S. auto retailer based on sales. The company had 455 locations encompassing over 54 brands in the U.S., U.K., and Canada at the end of 2025.
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. 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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