Bellingham Toyota and Mercedes obtained by Canadian organization
A shopper seems to be at new Toyota Camrys although hers is in the store at then-Wilson Motors at 1100 Iowa St. in 2012. Now regarded as Bellingham Toyota and Mercedes, the dealerships ended up purchased by a Canadian corporation on Tuesday, Jan. 31.
The Bellingham Herald
The Mercedes-Benz of Bellingham and Toyota of Bellingham dealerships have been purchased by Go Auto, a Canadian company that represents 59 dealerships and 27 vehicle brands.
Go Auto is headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, and is one of Canada’s largest dealer networks that offer sales, finance, insurance, service and collision repairs for cars and RVs.
The dealerships at 1100 Iowa St. were purchased for $28.5 million on Tuesday, Jan. 31, according to Steve Oliver, Whatcom County treasurer.
“We are excited to build on the success of Mercedes-Benz of Bellingham and Toyota of Bellingham and work towards establishing a Go Auto network across North America. Our passion for business extends into the communities we operate, and we are thrilled to become a part of the Bellingham community. This is just the beginning of our diversified and strategic growth plan as we look forward to further expanding our footprint in 2023,” Phil Abram, president of Go Auto, wrote in a news release.
The Bellingham dealerships will continue business as usual during the transition, “with no interruptions to their existing appointments, ongoing sales, or other business with us,” the release states.
The former Wilson dealership was purchased in 2016 by Al Monjazeb. Through the transition, the dealership that sold both makes of cars also changed to having two names – Mercedes-Benz of Bellingham and Toyota of Bellingham, according to previous reporting from The Bellingham Herald.
Go Auto has over 3,300 employees. The Toyota and Mercedes Benz dealerships share some staff members in Bellingham. The Toyota dealership has 32 staff members according to its website, and the Mercedes Benz dealership has 23 staff members according to its website.
This tale was originally printed February 2, 2023, 11:09 AM.
Alyse Smith is a reporter at The Bellingham Herald masking retail, dining places, careers and company. If you like tales like this, you should contemplate supporting our operate with a membership to our newspaper.