The Jim Riehl’s Friendly automotive group has expanded its dealership network to northern Michigan, and with the Charlevoix Chamber Of Commerce held a ribbon cutting to welcome the Jim Riehl Automotive family to Northern Michigan.
Bob Riehl, general manager and operating partner, at Jim Riehl’s Friendly Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Lapeer, is also an operating partner at the new Jim Riehl’s Friendly Ford of Charlevoix, located just south of the Charlevoix Airport. “In this business you need to be growing bigger or you’re selling. And we are always looking for acquisitions,” Riehl told The County Press on Wednesday. “We’ve been looking to diversify and acquire different brands. We think Ford is a solid brand, and we’re excited to now be in northern Michigan,” he said.
The market for the new location includes all of northern Michigan up to the Straits of Mackinac. Jim Riehl Friendly’s take-the-car-to-the-customer approach will also allow customers to purchase Ford products from the Charlevoix store to be shipped to their clients in southeastern Michigan, including Lapeer.
The Charlevoix acquisition adds to the Jim Riehl Friendly portfolio that, along with their Lapeer location, includes a Chrysler Jeep dealership in Warren, a Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram store in Romeo, a Moke dealership (also in Romeo), Cadillac and Honda dealerships in Clinton Township, as well as a marine division — UNRIEHL Performance in Chesterfield Township that includes a marina on Lake St. Clair’s Anchor Bay.
Moke is an electric, street legal and open-air low-speed vehicle made in Sarasota, Fla. Riehl hopes to soon have a Moke on display in the showroom at Jim Riehl’s Friendly in Lapeer.
The Charlevoix purchase, said Riehl, was a good fit for the Jim Riehl’s Friendly group and for Matt and Christine LaFontaine who sold the 28-employee dealership. “They cultivate the family atmosphere, as do we. We want to have forever customers who keep coming back to us for their vehicles. They care about the community, and they care about their employees. We care about our employees. They (LaFontaines) felt very comfortable to pass the dealership from one family to another,” said Riehl.
“We want a customer for life, and we want their children and grandchildren to be customers, too. We know to achieve those goals, we need the right products, a great customer experience, a family atmosphere for our employees and to be good citizens in our communities. That is the culture that we build and nurture at Friendly Automotive Group,” Riehl said.
