Jeff Schmitt Auto Group is buying out Langs Chevrolet off U.S. 35 in Beavercreek Twp. and will rename the dealership Jeff Schmitt Chevrolet East.
The transaction is expected to close Wednesday morning, Jeff Schmitt said this afternoon, Oct. 27. Terms of the deal — which includes the nine-acre property at 635 Orchard Lane, along with the buildings and the dealership business — were not disclosed.
Langs started in downtown Xenia in 1926 and moved to its current location in the late 1980s. The dealership is primarily family-owned by descendants of founder Fred Lang and his son Richard Lang, who died in 2010.
"I've long admired the Lang organization for its customer service," Schmitt said. "As far as Langs customers are concerned, the transition should be seamless."
Schmitt said he expects to retain most of the Langs Chevrolet employees, and he anticipates employment there to grow over time. Overall employment for Jeff Schmitt Auto group will approach 500 in the months ahead, Schmitt said.
Schmitt's company already owns four other properties near Langs Chevrolet: Cadillac and Mazda dealerships that are adjacent to Langs, a Nissan dealership nearby, and a Jeff Schmitt Lawn and Motor Sports business. Other Jeff Schmitt dealerships include Chevrolet and Mitsubishi in Fairborn and another Chevrolet dealership in Miamisburg.
The addition of Langs "will give us the largest Chevy inventory in Dayton, and one of the largest in Ohio," Schmitt said.
The ownership change comes nine months after Hidy Auto Group sold its four dealerships and exited the car business. Like Langs Chevrolet, Hidy's company started in Xenia before moving to Beavercreek Twp.
Earlier this month, Jeff Schmitt Auto Group purchased the land and buildings that make up its Jeff Schmitt Chevrolet South at 125 S. Gebhart Church Road in Miamisburg for $3.5 million, according to Montgomery County property records. Schmitt said he had a lease with an option to buy the land of the dealership, which he purchased five years ago when it operated as Serra Chevrolet.
"We've done very well there, and we wanted to ensure the future," Schmitt said of the Miamisburg property transaction.
The buyouts are part of an accelerating pattern of such mergers across the industry. Ohio Automobile Dealers Association President Tim Doran has said the trend will continue, as dealership owners look to take advantage of economies of scale.
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