BRADENTON — A month after the Red Hoagland dealership and General Motors Corp. parted ways, the Bradenton car dealer is getting interest from a potential buyer.
AutoNation, based in Fort Lauderdale, is interested in possibly acquiring the land at the Hoagland dealership, said AutoNation spokesman Marc Cannon.
Cannon wouldn’t give any further details, including indication of when a decision would be made regarding the property at 5325 14th St. W.
“We are interested in expanding our footprint in that marketplace, we love the Tampa Bay/Bradenton area,” Cannon said.
AutoNation owns and operates two franchises in Manatee and Sarasota counties and 11 in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
Last month, Hoagland announced he ended his dealership’s association with General Motors.
The Hoagland dealership has operated for nearly 30 years in Bradenton and remains open selling used cars and tending to auto service orders.
Hoagland would only confirm that his dealership had been contacted by AutoNation, but added he plans to remain in the auto businesses in Bradenton one way or another. “We’re open right now, we have several things we’re working on at this point,” Hoagland said. “We plan on staying in Bradenton. We’re in the stages now of trying to decide what to do next.”
Hoagland has been in the automobile business for at least 62 years. He started as a Chevrolet salesman in 1947, and served on the advisory board for GM under two GM presidents, Ed Cole and Pete Estes.
The Red Hoagland GMC dealership started in Bradenton in 1980 as Hoagland Oldsmobile. About six to eight years after its opening, Hoagland said the dealership added GMC, and about 12 years ago it took on Pontiac.
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