Menomonee Falls-based Russ Darrow Group on Thursday acquired the Motorville Nissan and Volkwagen dealership in Sheboygan for an undisclosed price.
Russ Darrow, which operates 17 Wisconsin car dealerships with about 1,100 employees, did not previously operate in Sheboygan or sell Volkswagen vehicles.
“Sheboygan’s not a market we’re currently doing business in and the opportunity came along, so it seemed to fit into our wheelhouse,” said Mike Darrow, president of Russ Darrow Group. “We have a Nissan store on the north side of Milwaukee today, so we were familiar with the Nissan franchise and … we thought we could serve that market well with Nissan.”
The joint dealership, which has separate showrooms as well as maintenance and repair services, is located at 5515 Racetrack Road. Russ Darrow Group also acquired 100 to 150 remaining vehicles with the dealership, and will boost the inventory to about 300 new and used vehicles. The company also has a selection of about 2,000 vehicles from all its dealerships available online.
All of the approximately 20 employees will stay on at the Sheboygan dealership, and Russ Darrow plans to add another 10 to 20 positions, and is currently hiring sales and service technicians.
John Domask has been named general manager for the dealership.
The company plans to continue to be open to acquiring other area dealerships, Mike Darrow said.
“As opportunities present themselves, we’ll always take a look,” he said.
