After 15 years of owning a single-point dealership, during which time he became a President of the Trillium Automobile Dealers Association and then the President of the Canadian International AutoShow, Larry Lantz is retiring from the business.
The 71-year-old sold Hanover Honda, which is based in Southwestern Ontario and which he owned with his two sons, Robert and David, to Michael Carmichael’s UpAuto earlier this month.
“As a single-market dealer, you have to be all things to all people,” Lantz said in an interview with Canadian auto dealer. “You have to do HR, health and safety, social media, business development and stuff falls through the cracks.”
In addition to his age, Lantz said COVID made it harder to hire staff.
“I’m getting older, the business is getting tougher to run without help,” said Lantz. “We’re able to hire people but it takes longer now. We used to be able to hire a tech within a month, now it takes three months to get a tech. It takes more money all the time, there’s more investment required and I came to the conclusion in November 2021 that we either had to grow or sell. I engaged a broker to test the market and see what the interest would be.”
When Carmichael’s name was presented as a possible buyer, it intrigued Lantz because they both had similar philosophies, including a desire to give back to the community and not oversell in the service department.
“It just seemed to be the right choice,” said Lantz. “It’s a good fit for our staff, it’s a good fit for our community and I think for his group it’s a really good fit because he’s got no Honda representation.
“Honda is a great company to work with and I think he’s going to find that and really enjoy his experience.”
Lantz owned the store with his two sons, Robert and David, and collectively they decided to sell their shares to UpAuto. Robert and David will continue to run the dealership.
“I’m still cleaning up some last-minute stuff and I’m helping to ease the transition,” said Lantz. “I don’t want to interfere with the new owners. Some dealers want to hang around and I don’t want to do that. I was going to get out sooner, but they said there’s no rush and it’s good to have me sitting around here a little bit for consistency.”
