WATSONVILLE—The family that owns Chevrolet Watsonville has purchased two new neighboring dealerships, giving it the lion’s share of the sales on Auto Center Drive.
The Cooper family closed the deal on Wednesday for Monterey Bay Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram and Mid Bay Ford Lincoln.
The family has owned the Chevrolet dealership at 490 Auto Center Drive since 2008.
“We’re a community-based dealership,” General Manager Melvin Cooper said. “This was an opportunity for us to plant deeper roots in the community by branching out into the two new stores.”
The family acquired the dealerships—which are adjacent to the Chevrolet dealership—from Victory Dealership Group. That company bought them from Rocky Franich in 2016.
In addition to the new acquisitions, Cooper said that he plans to add medium- and heavy-duty truck lines of Ford and Ram brands to his sales floors, including service for the trucks.
With the purchase, the family now owns five facilities and seven franchises, including a used car lot called Watsonville Buying Center and a diesel truck repair facility called National Truck Sales and Service at 130 Lee Road.
About 125 employees now work for the family, with plans to possibly increase that number to 150.
“As business grows, we’ll be adding staff,” Cooper said.
