![]() ![]() GM has been very supportive and sales tripled for September of 2014, said Morais. So far he is very pleased with the acquisition. This has been great opportunity,” said Morais. “To come into a closing and take ownership has been an incredible milestone in my life. Rob Ryan, CEO and founder of Open Road, owns the other 50 percent. Though Morais has had a stake in other stores this is his first equal partnership. Morais may be even more hands-on than usual with this Cadillac store because he owns 50 percent and is the operating partner. He kept the service and parts staff and added four sales associates. He brought in a general sales manager and added a preowned manager. Meanwhile, any online feedback the store gets is sent directly to Morais. He will start to interview candidates for the general manager’s job at the Cadillac dealership in about 60 days, and will most likely bring in an existing Open Road manager, said Morais. Morais gets involved in every aspect of the store’s operations during those 90 days, even doing test drives on Saturdays. “I am the takeover person who comes in and brings our culture,” he said. To make sure the transition is done correctly, Morais himself takes on the General Manager’s job for 90 days when Open Road acquires a dealership. It aims to be 100 percent paid back by then. Open Road has a five-year horizon on its acquisitions. He figures service can increase 30 percent and sales can grow up to 40 percent just using the processes that have worked in other Open Road stores. The store had been selling seven new cars a month with the addition of the used units it did seven cars in the first week, said Morais. ![]() Open Road brought in pre-owned units “from day one.” That was the fastest way to boost sales, he figured. “I saw all the broken processes and said, ‘these are all things I can fix in 30 days,” said Morais. The previous owner was doing no advertising and had no loaner cars for customers. ![]() The store’s planning volume was 900 units it was selling 400. “We are still building that up,” he said. Morais brought in one of his best BDC managers from another store. It has “bulked up” the store’s website and added a business development center. Open Road is already making changes at the Caddy store. He is also enthusiastic about the recent appointment of Johan de Nysschen to head GM’s Cadillac division, and the decision to move the Cadillac headquarters to New York. The new dealership can benefit from those savings, as well. They share personnel, advertising, and vendors, which cuts costs, said Morais. Open Road already has three other dealerships within a five-mile radius of the Cadillac store-BMW, Mini, and Mazda stores, all in Morristown. “The Germans don’t have a major seven passenger car. “Our BMW customers have a Cadillac in their garage as well,” he said. And though the Cadillac brand is still not generally grouped with the German luxury brands in consideration lists, the Cadillac brand was attractive because of the Escalade SUV, which seats seven, said Morais. The facility had just gone through a complete upgrade to the new Cadillac image. “This is all about potential,” said Morais. In this case, however, the dealership was not profitable. Various blue sky reports have put blue sky multiples for a Cadillac dealership at three to four times pre-tax earnings. Sassi was familiar with Open Road because of its other stores in the area and within two days the two sides had come to an agreement for the real estate and blue sky, said Morais. They were so impressed with GM and the Cadillac division that he began calling Cadillac dealers to see if they were interested in selling, said Morais. Meanwhile, Morais had reached out to many manufacturers, including General Motors Cadillac division, to let them know he was in acquisition mode.Īngela Montgomery of GM Dealer Development met with the Open Road executive team to learn more about them. The Cadillac dealership was owned by Frank Sassi Jr. Michael Morais, president of Open Road Group, spoke with Automotive Buy Sell Report about the acquisition, his process for integrating a new store, and his hopes for the Cadillac brand. Mike Morais and Rod Ryan of Open Road Auto Group ![]()
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