Sylvester Chevrolet Sold to Matthews Auto Group Amid Industry Consolidation

Derek Sylvester and his family have sold Sylvester Chevrolet, a dealership in Peckville, Pennsylvania, to the New York-based Matthews Auto Group. The sale was finalized in late last month.

Sylvester, who is 67, stated the family decided to sell as he considered retirement and due to challenges for smaller dealerships in the current market. Many family members plan to continue working at the dealership under the new ownership.

"As a family, we decided this might be the time. Unless you're a larger store, a much larger store, it's a little bit harder to make money. ... It's just scale." — Derek Sylvester

Background of the Dealership

The dealership was originally built by Sylvester's father on Main Street in Peckville in 1972. Sylvester cited the difficulty for smaller stores to make money and the rapidly changing automotive retail landscape in the U.S. as factors in the sale.

The automotive industry is experiencing significant shifts including the adoption of all-electric vehicles, technological changes such as artificial intelligence, and growing demands from automakers.

The Trend of Consolidation

Sales of dealerships are occurring across the country at a rapid pace. The business of selling cars has evolved into a trillion-dollar industry with significant consolidation.

According to the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), the vast majority of U.S. franchised dealers are small business owners with fewer than six stores. However, data from Automotive News shows a clear trend toward consolidation:

• The top 150 dealers sold 27% of all retail and fleet new vehicles in 2025, up from 24.3% in 2021 and 21.2% in 2015.
• These top dealers owned roughly a quarter of dealerships last year, up from less than 20% a decade ago.

Publicly traded dealers like Lithia Motors and AutoNation have market capitalizations exceeding $6 billion each. Even online used-car retailer Carvana, with a market cap of $74 billion, has begun purchasing new vehicle franchises.

Industry Perspectives

"I think that's certainly a competitive advantage. I think staying still is probably not the best play. You're seeing continued scale. The trend is you're just going to continue to see consolidation to allow you to stay competitive." — Rob Matthews, CEO of Matthews Auto Group

Rob Matthews added that his company aims to "unlock" the potential of the acquired store through its scale.

Brian Gordon, president of dealer advisor Dave Cantin Group, stated, "There's a lot of money that wants to come to the industry. And, generally, the industry is sort of aligned on how to value these things. That makes for a good climate for [mergers and acquisitions]."

John Murphy, a managing director at Haig Partners, noted that dealerships remain a lucrative market for investors, with increasing attention from outside capital sources.

About the Companies

• Matthews Auto Group is a family-owned company that started in Vestal, New York, in 1973. It has grown into an approximately $800 million business with 18 locations and 800 employees.
• Dave Cantin Group, the advisor for Matthews Auto Group in this deal, conducts dozens of such transactions annually and expects the pace of consolidation to increase this year.

NADA reports further illustrate the shift: 90.5% of its nearly 17,000 dealers own between one and five stores, down from 94.4% in 2016. Meanwhile, 0.2% of dealers own 50 stores or more, up from 0.1% during that time frame.