![\"Capital](\"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/26-0930-s2p-capauto-800x600.jpg\")
Image caption: Capital Auto Group Dealership Manufacturers.<\/em><\/p>\n
The acquisition includes:<\/strong><\/p>\n For Larry Cloninger and the Michael family, however, the transaction represents far more than the transfer of dealerships.<\/p>\n Larry Cloninger and Capital Automotive Group\u2019s Tim Michael have been friends and respected colleagues in the automotive industry for more than 40 years. Throughout their careers, both families built their organizations around many of the same principles: treating employees like family, taking care of customers, giving back to their communities, and building businesses intended to last for generations.<\/p>\n That longstanding relationship made the Michael family a natural choice when the time came for Cloninger to consider the future of the dealerships bearing his family name.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you spend your life building something, the people you ultimately entrust it to matter tremendously,\u201d said Larry Cloninger. \u201cI have known Tim and the Michael family for more than 40 years. I know the kind of people they are, the way they operate their dealerships and the importance they place on their employees and communities. There is a tremendous amount of comfort in knowing these stores and our people are being handed to a family we know, respect, and trust.\u201d<\/p>\n For Capital Automotive Group, the opportunity comes with both excitement and a deep sense of responsibility to honor what the Cloninger family has built.<\/p>\n \u201cLarry has been a friend of our family for more than four decades, and that makes this acquisition incredibly special to us,\u201d said Tim Michael of Capital Automotive Group. \u201cWe have tremendous respect for Larry, his family, and the organization they have built. You don\u2019t create a legacy like this overnight. It comes from decades of hard work, relationships, and doing the right thing for your employees, your customers, and your community. We are honored that Larry has trusted our family with what he has built, and we take that responsibility very seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n As part of the transition, Capital Automotive Group will proudly carry forward a message already familiar to Cloninger customers and employees: Just Better.<\/p>\n Rather than leaving that philosophy behind, Capital plans to make it part of the next chapter for the dealerships \u2014 a reflection of the shared values between the Cloninger and Michael families and their mutual commitment to continually improving the customer and employee experience.<\/p>\n For customers, much of what they know and value about their local dealership will remain unchanged. The familiar employees, local relationships, and community connections that have defined the Cloninger dealerships will continue, now supported by the additional resources, scale, and experience of Capital Automotive Group.<\/p>\n \u201cThe phrase \u2018Just Better\u2019 really captures how we want to approach this transition,\u201d said Lindsey Michael Longo of Capital Automotive Group. \u201cThis isn\u2019t about changing what has made these dealerships successful. It\u2019s about honoring what Larry and his teams have built, keeping the great people and strong local relationships already in place, and giving those teams additional resources and opportunities for the future. Same People. Same Commitment. Just Better.\u201d<\/p>\n Capital Automotive Group\u2019s priority throughout the transition will be continuity for employees, customers and the communities the dealerships have served for generations.<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal isn\u2019t simply to acquire dealerships; it\u2019s to build upon great organizations,\u201d Longo added. \u201cThe Cloninger stores have strong teams, loyal customers, and deep roots in their communities. We want those employees to know how much we value what they have helped build. We are coming into these stores with tremendous respect for their history and with a commitment to invest in their people, their customers and their future.\u201d<\/p>\n The acquisition strengthens Capital Automotive Group\u2019s presence throughout North Carolina while expanding the company\u2019s footprint in South Carolina. It also adds Toyota and Honda locations in key markets alongside Capital\u2019s growing Ford representation.<\/p>\n Both families share a multigenerational connection to the automotive business, making the transition particularly meaningful. Capital Automotive Group\u2019s history began with the purchase of Capital Ford in Raleigh in 1985 and has grown substantially over the decades while remaining grounded in the relationships and values established by its founders.<\/p>\n The addition of the Cloninger dealerships continues that growth while preserving the family-focused philosophy at the heart of both organizations.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are acquisitions that make sense on paper, and then there are opportunities that mean something personally,\u201d Michael added. \u201cThis one means something to our family. Larry\u2019s friendship has spanned nearly our entire history in the automotive business. We are grateful for his confidence in us, and we intend to make him proud of where these dealerships go from here.\u201d<\/p>\n Capital Automotive Group plans to work closely with the existing leadership and employees at each location to ensure a seamless transition and to continue providing customers with the service and relationships they have come to expect.<\/p>\n The acquisition officially closes one chapter for the Cloninger family while beginning another under the Michael family\u2019s leadership \u2014 connecting two automotive families whose friendship and mutual respect began more than 40 years ago.<\/p>\n And while the name on the dealerships may change, the commitment behind them will continue:<\/p>\n Same People. Same Commitment. Just Better.<\/em><\/p>\n ABOUT CAPITAL AUTOMOTIVE GROUP<\/strong><\/p>\n Capital Automotive Group was founded by Chester \u201cJunie\u201d Michael, Tim Michael and Hubert Parks, whose partnership began with the purchase of Capital Ford in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1985. From that single dealership, the organization has grown over the years into one of the region\u2019s largest privately held automotive groups, with locations throughout North and South Carolina representing a diverse portfolio of automotive brands.<\/p>\n While the company has grown significantly, Capital Automotive Group remains rooted in the same principles on which it was founded: strong partnerships, a commitment to its employees and customers, investment in the communities it serves, and a long-term approach to the automotive business. Today, the next generation of the Michael family continues to build upon that foundation while carrying the organization forward.<\/p>\n Learn more: https:\/\/capitalautogroup.com\/\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\n
![https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/26-0930-s2p-capauto-300dpi.webp<\/a><\/p>\nImage caption: Capital Auto Group Dealership Manufacturers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RALEIGH, N.C., Sept. 30, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Capital Automotive Group today announced the acquisition of six Larry Cloninger dealerships and an independent collision center in North and South Carolina, marking a significant expansion for the family-owned automotive group and, more importantly, the continuation of a legacy built on relationships, community, and more than four decades of friendship between the Cloninger and Michael families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5164,"featured_media":138557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[421,12804,9846,71,1,38,52,9243,178],"tags":[11694],"class_list":["post-138560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mergers-acquisitions-news","category-ap","category-auto-dealer-news","category-automotive-news","category-business-news","category-finance-news","category-north-carolina-news","category-raleigh-news","category-retail-franchise-news","tag-toyota-dealer","has-post-title","has-post-date","no-post-category","no-post-tag","no-post-comment","has-post-author"],"acf":[],"views":1129,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138560"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138567,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138560\/revisions\/138567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/26-0930-s2p-capauto-300dpi.webp\"){kind=link}