#1 Cochran Buys Honda
Dealership in Johnstown
Rob Cochran is president and CEO of #1 Cochran.
By Patty Tascarella
Senior Reporter, Pittsburgh Business Times
Rob Cochran has driven east to Johnstown and put his company behind the wheel of a Honda. Make that plural.
Western Pennsylvania’s largest automotive retailer, #1 Cochran, on Monday confirmed it has acquired Thomas Team Honda in Johnstown.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The deal extends #1 Cochran’s footprint to Cambria County and adds the Honda brand to its portfolio. The newly acquired dealership, located at 1920 Bedford St. in Johnstown, has been renamed #1 Cochran Honda. Almost all of the sales and service professionals have come aboard, increasing #1 Cochran Honda’s total team member count to about 1,300.
“With the inclusion of Honda, we now offer every major mainstream brand in the market, all available for purchase in our stores or 100% online,” said Cochran, president and CEO of the company founded by his father in 1965.
The Thomas Automotive Group has been in business for more than 100 years and operates dealerships in Johnstown, Bedford and Cumberland, Maryland. CEO Mark Thomas said that only the Honda store is changing hands.
“Thomas Team Honda was unique among the Thomas dealerships in that we did not own the real estate," he said in a prepared statement. "For us, the opportunity to sell arose at a time when our building lease was up for renewal. Because of differing investment objectives among our minority owners, we determined that the best option was to sell the dealership — and we could think of no better organization than #1 Cochran in which to entrust our valued customers and team members.”
Based in Monroeville, #1 Cochran is the 61st largest dealer group in the U.S., serving customers throughout the Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia tri-state area. It operates 30 new vehicle franchises comprised of 19 domestic and imported brands and has a physical footprint that spans five counties — Allegheny, Butler, Washington, Westmoreland and now Cambria.
The deal is the second of 2022 for #1 Cochran, following the March purchase of 100-year-old Butler County Ford. More may be coming.
“We’re still in active discussions on a few things,” Cochran said. “There could be other things. There’s nothing to talk about right now.”
He intends to “gently expand” the company’s geographic market, making sure the culture and service orientation stays intact.
“Right now, a couple of hours in any direction would be where we’re looking,” Cochran said. “There’s potential for future extension into Johnstown-Altoona. Depending on how this goes, we'd be looking to provide more services in that community for our customers there.”
The Thomas Team Honda deal also reinforces and supports #1 Cochran’s digital strategy.
“In the mass market, we have all the choices … whatever products someone wants and however they want to buy it, whether in our showrooms or us handling much or all of it digitally,” Cochran said. “That’s why Honda was so important to us — it was something we didn’t have in our offerings.”
He also believes the company has momentum from something it didn’t do. Fueled by pandemic-related shortages, new vehicle sales nationwide saw dealers often charging above manufacturer’s suggested retail price, particularly with vehicles that were hard to find.
“We made the decision we absolutely would not do that, we haven’t and we will not,” Cochran said. “We’ve gotten a lot of positive support, and we think that positions us even more so in the coming years because of the good will we’ve generated over the past 18 months.”
Western Pennsylvania’s largest automotive retailer, #1 Cochran, on Monday confirmed it has acquired Thomas Team Honda in Johnstown.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The deal extends #1 Cochran’s footprint to Cambria County and adds the Honda brand to its portfolio. The newly acquired dealership, located at 1920 Bedford St. in Johnstown, has been renamed #1 Cochran Honda. Almost all of the sales and service professionals have come aboard, increasing #1 Cochran Honda’s total team member count to about 1,300.
“With the inclusion of Honda, we now offer every major mainstream brand in the market, all available for purchase in our stores or 100% online,” said Cochran, president and CEO of the company founded by his father in 1965.
The Thomas Automotive Group has been in business for more than 100 years and operates dealerships in Johnstown, Bedford and Cumberland, Maryland. CEO Mark Thomas said that only the Honda store is changing hands.
“Thomas Team Honda was unique among the Thomas dealerships in that we did not own the real estate," he said in a prepared statement. "For us, the opportunity to sell arose at a time when our building lease was up for renewal. Because of differing investment objectives among our minority owners, we determined that the best option was to sell the dealership — and we could think of no better organization than #1 Cochran in which to entrust our valued customers and team members.”
Based in Monroeville, #1 Cochran is the 61st largest dealer group in the U.S., serving customers throughout the Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia tri-state area. It operates 30 new vehicle franchises comprised of 19 domestic and imported brands and has a physical footprint that spans five counties — Allegheny, Butler, Washington, Westmoreland and now Cambria.
The deal is the second of 2022 for #1 Cochran, following the March purchase of 100-year-old Butler County Ford. More may be coming.
“We’re still in active discussions on a few things,” Cochran said. “There could be other things. There’s nothing to talk about right now.”
He intends to “gently expand” the company’s geographic market, making sure the culture and service orientation stays intact.
“Right now, a couple of hours in any direction would be where we’re looking,” Cochran said. “There’s potential for future extension into Johnstown-Altoona. Depending on how this goes, we'd be looking to provide more services in that community for our customers there.”
The Thomas Team Honda deal also reinforces and supports #1 Cochran’s digital strategy.
“In the mass market, we have all the choices … whatever products someone wants and however they want to buy it, whether in our showrooms or us handling much or all of it digitally,” Cochran said. “That’s why Honda was so important to us — it was something we didn’t have in our offerings.”
He also believes the company has momentum from something it didn’t do. Fueled by pandemic-related shortages, new vehicle sales nationwide saw dealers often charging above manufacturer’s suggested retail price, particularly with vehicles that were hard to find.
“We made the decision we absolutely would not do that, we haven’t and we will not,” Cochran said. “We’ve gotten a lot of positive support, and we think that positions us even more so in the coming years because of the good will we’ve generated over the past 18 months.”
