#1 Cochran Buys Ford of Monroeville
from Lithia
Rob Cochran is president and CEO of #1 Cochran.
By Patty Tascarella
Senior Reporter, Pittsburgh Business Times
Looking out for #1 has meant stretching its borders east to Cambria County and westward into Boardman, Ohio, over the past eight months. But now Rob Cochran has notched a deal in his own backyard. Literally.
On Thursday, #1 Cochran, Pittsburgh’s largest and the nation’s 59th-biggest auto retailer, acquired Ford of Monroeville from Lithia Motors Inc. The store, located at 3696 William Penn Hwy., has been rebranded #1 Cochran Ford Monroeville, on the same side of the highway as #1 Cochran’s headquarters campus at 4520 William Penn Hwy. It now retails eight new vehicle brands in Monroeville.
Terms were not disclosed.
It is the fourth dealership #1 Cochran has bought since last October, and the second announced in a week. On June 15, #1 Cochran sealed its purchase of Boardman Nissan; it had bought Sweeney Chevrolet, Buick and GMC, located on the same street, in early 2023, marking its first expansion outside western Pennsylvania. The buying burst started with the acquisition of Thomas Team Honda in Johnstown on Oct. 24, 2022.
This latest acquisition is also significant because it returns the Ford store to local ownership after operating under Medford, Oregon-based Lithia (NYSE:LAD) for more than five years. Lithia had purchased Day Automotive Group in early 2018.
“Bringing the store back to local ownership was one of the motivating factors in this purchase,” Cochran said. “We pride ourselves on being a family-owned business with deep ties to our customers, team members and the communities that support our success.”
It joins sibling locations in Allegheny Valley and Butler County, giving #1 Cochran a three-store Ford presence and providing customers three times the vehicle selection.
“It’s a good deal for us because we have a number of stores in Monroeville, we know the community quite well,” said Cochran who is president and CEO. “We’ve grown up here. Secondly, it expands our Ford presence. This is our third Ford dealership and it gives us more inventory, more scale, with a brand we want to be able to grow with.”
In March 2022, #1 Cochran bought Butler County Ford, snapping a three-year hiatus from the acquisition trail. The store was rebranded as #1 Cochran Ford.
#1 Cochran Automotive is the nation’s 59th-largest dealer group. It serves customers throughout the Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia area. Founded in 1965 by Cochran’s late father as a single-point Pontiac dealership, it now operates 35 new vehicle franchises representing 19 different brands. #1 Cochran’s physical footprint spans six counties — Allegheny, Butler, Washington, Westmoreland and Cambria in Pennsylvania and Mahoning in Ohio. Almost all sales and service professionals from the Monroeville Ford location are staying on, taking #1 Cochran's total team member count above 1,550.
At a time when M&A activity nationwide has slowed due to concerns about the economy, #1 Cochran remains an active buyer. But Cochran explained that talks usually start years in advance.
“We find ourselves less concerned with the current economic climate as we are with our long-term strategy that we’ve always held ourselves to,” he said. “A lot of these seeds were placed years ago, not six, 12, 24 months ago. That’s the case with a lot of what’s been playing out.”
The Ohio expansion, the first time #1 Cochran planted its flag outside western Pennsylvania, is expected to continue.
“We like Boardman a lot,” Cochran said. “We like the team members we’ve inherited and we see more growth within that growth."
He emphasized that #1 Cochran isn't interested in entering completely distinct markets not adjacent to where it already is.
“Call it two hours in any direction outside of Pittsburgh,” Cochran said.
There may be “a little more to do” in its southwestern Pennsylvania core.
“Over these last couple of years and going forward, it’s safe to say there’s a lot of change that we’ve begun to work through from an industry standpoint with the types of vehicles we’re selling and the manner in which we sell them,” Cochran explained.
There’s plenty of opportunity but it requires a mindset to evolve quickly in some respects.
“We identify communities and markets and look to have a good, diverse offering of products and to leveraging our expressway and digital selling to give customers access to those products," he said. "As we build up our density of vehicle offerings, we look to have all the associated services.”
The M&A isn’t just limited to dealerships. In March, #1 Cochran purchased Jeff Critchlow Auto Body Inc. in Pittsburgh. The shop was rebranded as Body by Cochran North Hills and marked the company’s 11th collision center.
On Thursday, #1 Cochran, Pittsburgh’s largest and the nation’s 59th-biggest auto retailer, acquired Ford of Monroeville from Lithia Motors Inc. The store, located at 3696 William Penn Hwy., has been rebranded #1 Cochran Ford Monroeville, on the same side of the highway as #1 Cochran’s headquarters campus at 4520 William Penn Hwy. It now retails eight new vehicle brands in Monroeville.
Terms were not disclosed.
It is the fourth dealership #1 Cochran has bought since last October, and the second announced in a week. On June 15, #1 Cochran sealed its purchase of Boardman Nissan; it had bought Sweeney Chevrolet, Buick and GMC, located on the same street, in early 2023, marking its first expansion outside western Pennsylvania. The buying burst started with the acquisition of Thomas Team Honda in Johnstown on Oct. 24, 2022.
This latest acquisition is also significant because it returns the Ford store to local ownership after operating under Medford, Oregon-based Lithia (NYSE:LAD) for more than five years. Lithia had purchased Day Automotive Group in early 2018.
“Bringing the store back to local ownership was one of the motivating factors in this purchase,” Cochran said. “We pride ourselves on being a family-owned business with deep ties to our customers, team members and the communities that support our success.”
It joins sibling locations in Allegheny Valley and Butler County, giving #1 Cochran a three-store Ford presence and providing customers three times the vehicle selection.
“It’s a good deal for us because we have a number of stores in Monroeville, we know the community quite well,” said Cochran who is president and CEO. “We’ve grown up here. Secondly, it expands our Ford presence. This is our third Ford dealership and it gives us more inventory, more scale, with a brand we want to be able to grow with.”
In March 2022, #1 Cochran bought Butler County Ford, snapping a three-year hiatus from the acquisition trail. The store was rebranded as #1 Cochran Ford.
#1 Cochran Automotive is the nation’s 59th-largest dealer group. It serves customers throughout the Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia area. Founded in 1965 by Cochran’s late father as a single-point Pontiac dealership, it now operates 35 new vehicle franchises representing 19 different brands. #1 Cochran’s physical footprint spans six counties — Allegheny, Butler, Washington, Westmoreland and Cambria in Pennsylvania and Mahoning in Ohio. Almost all sales and service professionals from the Monroeville Ford location are staying on, taking #1 Cochran's total team member count above 1,550.
At a time when M&A activity nationwide has slowed due to concerns about the economy, #1 Cochran remains an active buyer. But Cochran explained that talks usually start years in advance.
“We find ourselves less concerned with the current economic climate as we are with our long-term strategy that we’ve always held ourselves to,” he said. “A lot of these seeds were placed years ago, not six, 12, 24 months ago. That’s the case with a lot of what’s been playing out.”
The Ohio expansion, the first time #1 Cochran planted its flag outside western Pennsylvania, is expected to continue.
“We like Boardman a lot,” Cochran said. “We like the team members we’ve inherited and we see more growth within that growth."
He emphasized that #1 Cochran isn't interested in entering completely distinct markets not adjacent to where it already is.
“Call it two hours in any direction outside of Pittsburgh,” Cochran said.
There may be “a little more to do” in its southwestern Pennsylvania core.
“Over these last couple of years and going forward, it’s safe to say there’s a lot of change that we’ve begun to work through from an industry standpoint with the types of vehicles we’re selling and the manner in which we sell them,” Cochran explained.
There’s plenty of opportunity but it requires a mindset to evolve quickly in some respects.
“We identify communities and markets and look to have a good, diverse offering of products and to leveraging our expressway and digital selling to give customers access to those products," he said. "As we build up our density of vehicle offerings, we look to have all the associated services.”
The M&A isn’t just limited to dealerships. In March, #1 Cochran purchased Jeff Critchlow Auto Body Inc. in Pittsburgh. The shop was rebranded as Body by Cochran North Hills and marked the company’s 11th collision center.
