Selling family-owned Dewey Ford
“It can be very painful,” said Brown. “It’s letting go of a part of family history.” For Vukovich, who eventually sold Dewey Ford last month to Ken Garff Automotive Group of Salt Lake City, Utah, the decision was spurred by changes in the marketplace, but that didn’t make the decision easier. Gary Thomas, president of the Iowa Automobile Dealers Association, agrees that the decision for dealers to sell can be difficult.
Many dealers are second- or third-generation operations, led by owners who feel a commitment to their businesses and the communities where they operate, he said. Selling is a “very emotional and extremely difficult decision for these guys to make,” Thomas said. Dewey Ford was owned by Vukovich and Vukovich’s father, Dewey, 83, who moved his family from Ohio to Iowa in 1967. Mark, who worked there since he was 12, became head of the business in 1990, when his father retired.
Last week, Mark Vukovich cleaned out his office at Dewey Ford. Looking back, Vukovich said he probably didn’t want to get out of the new-car business, but thought it was the right thing to do. Vukovich said he was approached in January 2006 by a broker who matches buyers and sellers of auto dealerships. The initial contact led to talks between Vukovich and Garff and eventually serious negotiations on a sale. “It was a real hard decision.
I probably changed my mind 30 times” in the months before the deal became final, Vukovich said. He talked to his father about the sale. “It was hard,” Dewey Vukovich said. The two wanted assurances that the new owner would treat employees well, Dewey Vukovich said. Many employees have worked for the dealership for 20, 30 or even 40 years. Mark Vukovich decided the car business was becoming the domain of big owners selling multiple brand names at multiple locations.