Sacramento’s Von Housen sells its Mercedes-Benz showrooms to Southern California firm
Longstanding Sacramento auto dealer Von Housen Automotive Group has sold its trio of Mercedes-Benz dealerships to Southern California’s Envision Motors.
The deal for the family-owned Von Housen’s flagship Mercedes Benz of Sacramento and its sister showrooms in Rocklin and El Dorado Hills was struck in December. Envision gets an automotive group that tallied $425 million in yearly sales, said Von Housen owner George Grinzewitsch Jr., and with it, dealerships that have been synonymous for years in Sacramento with the German luxury brand.
Details of the deal were not disclosed but Grinzewitsch on Friday confirmed reports that the Rocklin and El Dorado Hills locations and accompanying land were purchased for $47.5 million. The sale of Von Housen’s Sacramento property closes next week, Grinzewitsch said.
Grinzewitsch said the family was not actively seeking a buyer when Envision came calling in July. The local dealership group had no broker and hadn’t listed the Sacramento-area locations, but Grinzewitsch and Envision CEO Simon Sarriedine have had a long professional relationship through the automaker.
“I’ve known Simon for years through Mercedes Benz. We put a deal together. I didn’t think I’d be in this position in January 2022. Grinzewitsch said Friday. “It does feel like a bit of a changing of an era.”
The Von Housen sale arrives on the heels of longtime Elk Grove auto dealer Lasher Auto Group’s sale in October to Canada’s Knight Group and the sale of John L. Sullivan’s Sullivan Auto Group showrooms to Lithia Auto Group early in 2022. The transactions continue a changing of the guard in a Sacramento auto market where the dealerships for years were household names on radio and television.
Envision executives did not immediately return calls for comment on the transaction, but in a statement announcing the sale, Envision said: “We are extremely grateful to George Grinzewitsch for this opportunity and look forward to working with the talented team he has built.”
Envision has expanded quickly since Sarriedine and chief operating officer Frank Zarabi established the company in 2018. The Von Housen acquisition brings the Envision Motors portfolio to 14 dealerships in less than five years.
Envision Motors’ sells Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Jaguar, Ford and Toyota among its fleet of dealerships in Southern California, Arizona and in the Bay Area.
Grinzewitsch’s father George established Von Housen Automotive Group in 1958. The elder Grinzewitsch became a Mercedes-Benz dealer in 1961. Soon after, he opened what would become Mercedes-Benz of Sacramento. Father and son would operate the Sacramento showroom until selling it in 2004. The younger Grinzewitsch bought back the Capital city dealership in 2009. By then, he had opened Mercedes Benz of El Dorado Hills and, also in 2009, Mercedes-Benz of Rocklin.
“I have the deepest gratitude and appreciation for the incredible people that made up the Von Housen Automotive Group team, some who were with us for over 30 years,” Grinzewitsch said in a statement announcing the sale. “They are truly the best of the best in the automotive industry.”
But Grinzewitsch isn’t done with the car business, nor is he saying goodbye to Sacramento.
He teased in an interview with industry trade weekly Automotive News that he and son George III, Mercedes-Benz of Sacramento’s general manager and auto group vice president, were “actively pursuing new car franchise opportunities in selected markets where we find attractive opportunities” in the West.
“I’m 61. George is 28 and a vice president. We want to look at some opportunities,” Grinzewitsch told The Bee, adding that son George would run the day-to-day operations of any new venture.
Meantime, Grinzewitsch said he intends to remain active in Sacramento business, real estate and philanthropy, recently committing to another year on the board of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council.
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