David Wyler, president and CEO of Jeff Wyler Automotive Family, is a big Ferrari fan. “I love the brand so much I named my dog Enzo” (after Enzo Ferrari), Wyler told WardsAuto on a phone call. So, when approached about buying Midwestern Auto Group, which included a Ferrari franchise, the answer was an easy “yes.”
The Wyler group acquired Midwestern Auto Group in January, which includes luxury brands Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Maserati, Porsche, BMW, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, Volvo, Lotus, Mini and Volkswagen. The dealerships are located on a single campus in Dublin, Ohio, just north of Columbus.
These are the first ultra-luxury brands that the Jeff Wyler group has acquired, and to distinguish them from its other franchises they have been branded “The Wyler Collection”, or “TWC.”
That is now the Wyler group’s luxury division, and while these may be the first ultra-luxury brands the group owns, “they won’t be the last,” Wyler said.
TWC represents “a bespoke way of buying a luxury vehicle,” he said. It is “a different vision, so a different name. This is our first step.”
World-class customer service
A press release announcing the acquisition and the TWC brand creation said the new brands will “undergo a comprehensive cultural and operational evolution, including enhanced customer care standards, concierge style sales and service experiences, leadership accountability, and an elevated focus on long term relationships rather than transactions.”
They have retained all 252 employees, Wyler said, and there is “room to add” 50 more. That will be a gradual process, he said. Jeff Wyler group staff will be on site at the TWC campus for the next six to 12 months, so the new employees can fully integrate, he said.
“Our number one goal and focus right now is world class customer service,” Wyler said. “That is what we want to provide, that is what TWC stands for.”
This includes empowering the team members to “make our clients happy,” he said.
They will also add additional service capacity, including more shop bays and technicians, he said. The Porsche, Mini and Jaguar Land Rover franchises have their own service areas, Wyler said, while the ultra-luxury brands share service space.
Ultra-luxury brands in the Midwest, where the Jeff Wyler group is located, have been underserved, especially on the service side, Wyler said.
The ultimate fit
“The Midwest is a growing market for ultra-luxury brands,” Dave Cantin, chairman and CEO of the Dave Cantin Group, a dealership mergers and acquisitions advisory firm, told WardsAuto on a Zoom call. DCG represented Mark Brentlinger, the seller, in the transaction.
“You have a lot of family wealth, of old money, in the Midwest,” he said.
“Those families by and large want to remain in the Midwest to do business,” Cantin said. “One of the qualifications that his client asked for in a buyer was that they be in Ohio,” he said.
Brentlinger, the seller, also wanted Midwestern to go a private, family-held dealership group that would keep it together rather than selling off parts in the future, Cantin said.
“The Wyler family was the ultimate fit,” he said.
Started by Jeff Wyler in 1973, the Jeff Wyler Automotive Family, prior to the Midwestern acquisition, had over 23 locations representing 16 automotive brands, all in the Midwest. It seeks new acquisitions that are within 100 miles of its headquarters in Cincinnati, Wyler said.
The Midwestern acquisition not only fit within its regional strategy, but adding the ultra-luxury brands offered a “broader scope for our existing client base,” Wyler said.
The Wyler group had owned everything from Hyundai and Stellantis franchises to Mercedes-Benz, but no ultra-luxury brands.
“This offers our clientele the opportunity to move up,” Wyler said. “The group gets many requests from its existing clients to buy an ultra-luxury brand,” he added.
Buying the Midwestern group was more than just a way to satisfy those requests, however. The Wyler family looks at it as “a generational acquisition,” Wyler said.
He is the second generation to be in the retail automotive business, his sons and nephews are the third. They were also consulted about the acquisition, Wyler said.
“It’s not like, ‘Let’s hold this for five years and then flip it,’” he said.
