(WOOD) — Four Elhart Automotive dealerships in Holland have been acquired by Zeigler Auto Group, it announced Thursday, July 12, 2023. Zeigler of Holland now owns the Kia, Hyundai, Nissan and GMC dealerships at 822 Chicago Dr. near Waverly Road. It plans to upgrade the buildings on the 22-acre property. The Elhart family had owned Elhart Automotive since 1965, Zeigler said in a release.
“To us this isn’t just another acquisition, this is an opportunity to continue a family tradition and carry on a legacy that the Elhart family started nearly six decades ago,” Aaron J. Zeigler, the president and owner of Zeigler, said in the release. The prior owner of the dealerships, Jeff Elhart, said he was excited for the move.
“The good Lord led our family after careful thought to your great family team of professionals,” he said in the release. “I’m excited for our nearly 100 associates at Elhart in Holland to continue and carry on our family legacy with the Zeigler Auto Group.”
Zeigler had been looking to expand in Michigan, chief of staff Matt Thomas told News 8.
“It’s a phenomenal acquisition. It’s in our home state, which is really important to us,” he said. “We wanted to expand in the state of Michigan for a little bit now and so being able to do that is fantastic.”
He said Zeigler is excited to add the 100 employees working at those dealerships, who we said are a “great group of people.”
Zeigler, a dealer group based in Kalamazoo, now has almost 40 dealerships based in Michigan. Zeigler Kia of Holland is its first Kia dealership. The auto group had been working on adding a Kia franchise for a while, Thomas said.
“Kia is one of the hottest brands in America right now,” he said. “If you look at that brand, it’s up a tremendous amount year over year,” he said. He added that Kia offers products that fit all demographics, and they’re “really jumping on EV and taking that to a different level.”
Zeigler is excited to get involved with the Holland community.
“We had tons of customers from the community already come out,” Thomas said. “It was great just to hear the customers and how excited they were as well to have us be a part of this community.”
