Summit Township dealership property sold for $12 million

The retirement of Gary New, co-founder in 1971 of New Motors in Summit Township, has prompted a change in the structure of the business.

But that change — the sale of the 70-acre property on the stretch of Route 19 known as Auto Alley — won’t affect customers, employees or the function of the dealership.

That’s the word from Allen Yingling, who serves as owner and president of the company, which operates Subaru, Volkswagen and BMW dealerships.

Yingling, who joined the dealership 20 years ago, said New’s retirement prompted him to bring in an outside investor whom he did not identify.

A Florida-based limited liability corporation that’s controlled by Yingling and that investor has purchased the dealership’s real estate for $12 million.

New Realty LLP was listed as the seller while Erie APA Rev LLC was listed as the buyer in a deed transfer recorded on Dec. 24. According to state business records, the buyer’s principal address is in Miami Lakes, Florida.

Yingling, who has owned the real estate and the business since the end of 2019, said the deed transfer creates separate corporate entities to hold the real estate and the dealership.

He described the new structure as “a clean way of doing business.”

How is the business structured?

Yingling said both he and his partner have an ownership stake in each of those entities.

None of this affects the way the company does business, Yingling said.

“I remain the owner and President of New Motors, continuing to lead the dealership day-to-day. I brought in an investment partner, and the real estate transaction is separate from the operating business,” he said in an emailed answer to questions.

“Our customers and employees will continue working with the same local leadership, at the same location, with the same commitment to service,” Yingling said.

Yingling, who joined New Motors at the age of 18, is at the helm of a dealership with a history that can be traced to 1927. At that point, nearly a century ago, Vincent New opened a service station in the Crawford County village of Hartstown. The business would later expand as he began selling Chevrolets and used farm machinery.

According to the New Motors website, his sons Larry and Gary New began working in their father’s garage in the 1960s and eventually moved the dealership to its current location in 1971.

According to its website, New Motors Auto Group employs about 95 employees.

Contact Jim Martin at jmartin@timesnews.com.

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