Ohio Auto Dealerships Sold
Major U.S. group sells three stores to refocus on other markets as acquiring family makes its first major expansion.

The Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram store sits next-door to the Chevrolet GMC dealership and across the street from a Ford store.
Germain Automotive Group
An Ohio auto retail family has acquired three dealerships north of Dayton in the western part of the state.
Chesrown Automotive, operated by father and sons Jim, Ryan and Joseph Gill, picked up Germain Chevrolet-GMC, Germain Ford and Germain Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, all on Michigan Street in the Shelby County seat of Sidney, from Germain Motor Co.
It’s Chesrown’s first major expansion under the Gills, which also operate the Chesrown Chevrolet GMC dealership in the central Ohio city of Delaware.
The transaction, brokered by the Tim Lamb Group, was followed by the rebranding of all three stores to the Chesrown name.
Germain Motor sold the stores in order to focus on expansion in other markets. It still operates about 20 other dealerships in Ohio, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Montana and Pennsylvania.
The group bought the Chevrolet and Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram stores in 2021 from Dan Hemm, who’d operated them since 1984. It acquired the Ford store in 2023 from Buckeye Auto Group, which bought it in 2007.
Combined, the three stores cover almost 20 acres and have more than 50 service bays. Ryan and Joseph Gill will oversee them.
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