Vaughan Automotive has acquired Tommie Vaughn Ford, a nearly 70-year-old Houston dealership, from the Janke family in a transaction that gives the fast-growing dealership group its first Ford franchise and expands its presence in a major U.S. auto retail market.
Kerrigan Advisors represented the Janke family in the sale. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction marks the advisory firm’s 453rd franchise sale since its founding in 2014 and its 20th franchise sold in Texas since 2023.
Founded by Tommie Vaughn in 1957, Tommie Vaughn Ford operates in Houston’s Greater Heights neighborhood, about five miles from downtown. The dealership is one of only two Ford stores inside Houston’s 610 Loop, an area with roughly 480,000 residents, and serves a market with nearly 35,000 Ford vehicles in operation.
The dealership remained under the ownership of the Vaughn and Janke families for nearly seven decades. Tommie Vaughn, who served as president and chairman of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, was recognized by TIME magazine as one of the country’s distinguished auto dealers. After his death in 2005, ownership transitioned to his daughter, Jeanie Vaughn Janke, and her husband, Jim Janke. Jim Janke was named a TIME Dealer of the Year nominee in 2018.
“For nearly 70 years, our family has had the distinct privilege of serving the greater Houston community,” Jim Janke said. He described the sale as bittersweet but said the family viewed Vaughan Automotive as the right buyer for the dealership, its employees and customers.
For Vaughan Automotive, the acquisition adds a prominent Ford franchise to a portfolio concentrated in large metropolitan markets in Texas and California. The Boerne, Texas-based group, led by Shawn Vaughan, has grown annual revenue to more than $1 billion over the past five years and ranks No. 80 on Automotive News’ 2025 Top 150 dealership group list.
Vaughan Automotive operates a four-store portfolio and ranks No. 2 among the Top 150 dealership groups for average revenue per dealership and No. 3 for average new-vehicle retail sales per dealership. Adding Tommie Vaughn Ford provides the group with a strategically located asset in one of the country’s largest and fastest-growing metropolitan economies.
Houston is the fifth-largest U.S. metropolitan statistical area and the second-fastest-growing among the 10 largest markets, according to information provided by Kerrigan Advisors. Its population has increased 55% since 2000 and is projected to nearly double by 2050. The region is also home to 26 Fortune 500 companies and records more than 355,000 new-vehicle sales annually.
The dealership’s Greater Heights location adds another favorable market characteristic. Median household income in the neighborhood exceeds $160,000, more than twice the U.S. average, according to Kerrigan Advisors.
Ford also holds a strong position in the Houston auto market, with nearly 13% market share and the highest sales per domestic-brand dealership nationally. Its product portfolio includes the F-150, which has been America’s best-selling truck for nearly 50 consecutive years, and the Expedition. Both models have received Kelley Blue Book Best Buy recognition in their respective full-size truck and SUV categories.
“Ford is one of the most sought-after domestic franchises in today’s buy/sell market, driven by rising dealer trust and high sales throughput per dealership,” said Ryan Kerrigan, managing director of Kerrigan Advisors. He said those characteristics, combined with Houston’s growth profile, have increased buyer interest in well-positioned, high-volume Ford dealerships.
The sale is Kerrigan Advisors’ fourth announced transaction in a major U.S. growth market within six weeks. Other recent deals involved Paramount Foreign Cars Italia in Charlotte, North Carolina; Hennessy Automobile Companies in Atlanta; and Holman Honda in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Erin Kerrigan, founder and managing director of Kerrigan Advisors, said the recent transactions reflect increased activity involving desirable franchises in high-growth markets as dealership owners respond to strong valuations and buyer demand.
Since 2014, Kerrigan Advisors has advised on the sale of more than 450 auto retail franchises representing more than $11 billion in client proceeds. Its transactions have included the sale of Jim Koons Automotive Companies to Asbury Automotive Group and Leith Automotive to Holman, as well as the planned sale of Hennessy Automotive Companies to Group 1 Automotive, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Stephen Dietrich, Brooke Sizer, Kyla Baker and Kyle Gaughan served as legal counsel to Tommie Vaughn Ford. Eric Pridgen of Underwood & Roberts, PLLC and Emily Cowles of Bricker Graydon Wyatt LLP served as legal counsel to Vaughan Automotive.
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 445 franchises 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 2025 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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