Family-owned Texas dealership group buys Toyota, Honda, GM, Stellantis stores with New Mexico purchase

Casa Auto Group's third generation of leadership, seeking growth and diversification, expanded into a new state with the purchase of four dealerships in Alamogordo, N.M., Casa CEO Ronnie Lowenfield confirmed.

The family-owned group from El Paso, Texas, bought stores selling the Toyota, Honda, Chevrolet-Buick-GMC and Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram brands Aug. 22 from Robert Martinez of Desert Sun Motors, Lowenfield told Automotive News.

Alamogordo is about 90 miles north of El Paso. Martinez had owned the stores for about 40 years and wanted to retire, Lowenfield said.

Aside from Buick and GMC, the brands involved in the deal are all newcomers to Casa Auto's current portfolio, Lowenfield said.

Lowenfield said he and his brothers — Justin Lowenfield, Casa's president, and Luke Lowenfield, the company's general counsel — bought the dealership group from their father in 2018, who stepped down after acknowledging, "You guys are looking to grow; I'm looking to retire."

The brothers, who started with three dealerships selling Kia, Ford, Lincoln and Nissan, added a Buick-GMC store in 2021 before finalizing the New Mexico deal in the third quarter of last year.

"This acquisition really helped us branch out so we can serve more customers," Lowenfield said.

While minimal staffing changes were made, the buildings housing Honda and Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram have been slated for complete rebuilds.

A new Honda building is set to open in April. Until then, the Honda sales staff is working out of the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram building, which sits about 20 yards away. All Honda service is temporarily operating out of an old building next to the Chevrolet-Buick-GMC store, Lowenfield said.

Those plans will reverse when it's time for the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram building to come down later in 2023 — sales will operate out of the new Honda building until the end of this year when construction is slated for completion.

Lowenfield said while they're spending time and energy now to make sure the transitions and renovations go smoothly, the brothers aim to keep expanding the group.

"If I had it my way, we would buy one or two stores every year and continue to grow," he said. "I don't have a max number of stores in my head, but by 2030, I do know that we want to have 15 rooftops."

That compares with eight new-vehicle dealerships for Casa after the New Mexico deal, in addition to two used-only stores, a collision shop and insurance businesses.

The expansion marks the first time that Casa has moved into a new state since Wally Lowenfield, the brothers' grandfather, started the business in 1969, Lowenfield said.