LITTLE SILVER, NJ — In this town not far from the beaches of the Jersey Shore, Contemporary cars Mercedes-Benz has new owners for the first time in almost 50 years.
Little Silver’s rebranded Mercedes-Benz has new leaders, especially after its business entered into a partnership in which the former owners retain an undisclosed minority financial stake, as well as receiving undisclosed stakes in two luxury stores owned by buyer McGovern Automotive Group.
The growing McGovern Automotive of Newton, Mass., bought the Mercedes-Benz store from co-owners Allan Sockol, 95, and his nephew Scott Coleman, 72, on Aug. 15. They bought it together 46 years ago, fulfilling their dream of owning a car dealership. Sockol and Coleman will continue to handle the dealership’s VIP customers, while McGovern Automotive has assumed control of day-to-day operations.
McGovern Automotive CEO Matt McGovern said the approval process took a little longer than others because it was his first Mercedes store, but he said Sockol and Coleman supported him through the process.
“I met them and fell in love with them on day one,” McGovern told Automotive News before the closing. “They are great people and are very excited to join our group.”
The partnership, the men say, works because both family-owned businesses believe in putting employees first and maintaining relationships. Coleman said the Mercedes-Benz store has many long-time employees.
On that warm summer day, the festivities allowed Automotive News to witness some dealership closings happening.
Sockol, in his final hours as majority owner, said he felt good about the decision and the process. “We’re in the final stages of getting the last documents done,” Sockol said. “It’s been a great, great experience, and we’re looking forward to doing a lot of things with the group.”
Sockol and Coleman received ownership of McGovern Automotive’s Long Island locations: Porsche South Shore in Freeport, NY, and Ferrari of Long Island in Plainview, NY.
Coleman recalled one of the discussions that led to the decision to partner.
He said it all started with his old friend Todd Grieco. Grieco retired from Mercedes-Benz USA after nearly 30 years, most recently as a regional executive, and is now a regional vice president for McGovern Automotive.
“So we were at the Americana Diner, a nice restaurant, and he said, ‘You don’t know Matt, but he’s a lovely person,'” Coleman said.
Grieco suggested that McGovern, Sockol and Coleman would make a good mix, if the two decided to sell. While Sockol and Coleman had considered offers, they hadn’t really considered selling until recent years, though no one felt ready until McGovern.
“We weren’t thinking about selling, but we’re getting older,” said Sockol, who, like Coleman, was working six days a week. He said McGovern’s offer was hard to refuse.
They first met the day after Christmas and again in January. Coleman said the chemistry was instant. He said it took them about two seconds to answer each other’s question: “How much do you think the dealership is worth?” That is, they didn’t have to haggle over the blue-sky value, which includes intangibles like goodwill.
Coleman said the cultures also fit together.
“His people, every single one of his people, are unbelievable,” Coleman said. “It’s the greatest family group you’ll ever meet. Everyone is like Matt. They’re kind, they’re sincere, they’re easy to get along with.
“They want to see people succeed, right? It’s identical to our modus operandi.”
Grieco said McGovern’s group is like a small family organization, but with “a lot of muscle and resources behind it.” Grieco said McGovern, Sockol and Coleman have worked hard to build a community at their workplaces and that good relationships highlight their shared DNA.
“Unfortunately, I think that in this day and age, authentic relationships are not only hard to form, but also hard to maintain,” Grieco said, adding that genuine dedication from both parties will make the partnership a success.
Willie Beck of Bel Air Partners, an automotive consulting firm in Tampa, Florida, who represented the sellers, said McGovern was a great buyer for his firm’s longtime clients. Beck said Sockol and Coleman hired Bel Air Partners to do valuation work before the McGovern deal materialized.
The acquisition not only marks McGovern’s first acquisition in New Jersey, but also his first Mercedes dealership, which he thinks fits in nicely with his existing luxury stores.
“We’re extremely fortunate to be able to access the customer base here with our other exotic brands and luxury brands,” McGovern said. “You look at a given household with someone with some affluence, they’ll usually have a Porsche or Ferrari as well as a Mercedes-Benz SUV or a large sedan and whatnot, so it’s a really nice, dynamic place that we can cross-pollinate and sell a lot more vehicles from all three brands.”
McGovern Automotive Group is ranked No. 57 on Automotive News’ list of the 150 largest U.S. dealership groups, selling 17,675 new vehicles in 2023. The group, which also has dealerships in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, debuted on the list in 2023 at No. 65, with sales of 13,074 new vehicles in 2022.
McGovern Automotive, which celebrates eight years in business in September, has acquired four franchised dealerships in the past year and nine in 2022. In April, McGovern added a Toyota dealership in Portsmouth, N.H.
Mercedes fits perfectly into the group’s growth plan, which McGovern said in a July interview will require patience as the automotive retail market returns to normal post-COVID-19.
“I’m going to be much more diligent and selective in the businesses we buy,” McGovern said, adding that he feels profit margins will decline for all dealerships eventually. “So I’m not going to pay for those high numbers from the last four years.”
McGovern said in July that the group was close to having all the brands it wanted, about 25. He said the group would remain extremely selective about the brand and location for future deals — factors that the Little Silver deal perfectly matched.
Sockol, who was called “uncle” by many people in the conference room of Contemporary’s Sprinter van service building where the closing took place, is the brother of Coleman’s mother.
“I’ve been close to him since I was “4 or 5 years because we have similar hobbies and fascination with cars,” Coleman said. “And before my uncle got into the auto business, he was in the trucking industry.”
Sockol sold the trucking business when Coleman was 15, but Sockol’s love of racing cars, coupled with friendships in the industry, kept him, and by extension Coleman, firmly planted in the automotive industry.
Sockol had roots in the racing world, having worked with a racing team and Ferrari in the 1960s and 1970s.
Eventually, the two wanted their own dealership — and found it in Little Silver in 1978, when the store was just a five-car showroom. It grew to six buildings. One of them houses a collection of about 30 cars belonging to Sockol and Coleman, not included in the sale but which have special significance, including restored trucks from Sockol’s first company and luxury cars.
Coleman and Sockol said they each learned to care for others by watching their families do the same for employees and friends over the years, especially Sockol’s mother, Coleman’s grandmother.
“She gave us our values,” Coleman said, remembering when her grandmother would give money to the drivers in the family trucking business if she thought they needed help.
Sockol recalled that when he was a child, the engine of the mailman’s car blew up and his father gave the man a car as a gift.
McGovern recalled similar inspiration. He said he started out working on his father’s dairy farm in Dunstable, Massachusetts, driving trucks and tractors.
“That’s when I learned the value of a dollar and I learned how to work hard and how to treat people,” McGovern said.
He said that whenever people ask him how he does it, the answer is easy.
“Just be a reasonable person,” McGovern said.