Wheelers Family Auto Group, run by a brother-and-sister duo who grew up in the automotive retail industry, acquired Charles Automotive Inc., a Chevrolet-Buick dealership in Coloma, Wis., last month.
On March 1, the Wheelers acquired the dealership from Charles Plach, renaming it Wheelers Chevrolet-Buick.
This is the Wheelers’ fifth new-car dealership, all of which are located in Central Wisconsin and are franchised by General Motors. Mary Jo Wheeler-Schueller is the group’s president and dealer principal, while Daniel Wheeler serves as the group’s chief financial officer. Wheeler-Schueller also serves as the chair of General Motors’ Women’s Dealer Advisory Council.
Wheelers, headquartered in Marshfield, Wisconsin, also operates a used vehicle dealership in Abbotsford, two body shops, and a stand-alone Wheelers auto repair and tyre store in Marshfield.
In a phone chat, Wheeler-Schueller stated that her family and the vendor had known each other for many years.
“I believe it goes a long way if you have a positive relationship with your neighbours,” she remarked. “We do not use brokers.”
Wheeler-Schueller stated that GM has designated Wheelers Family Auto as a “early adopter” of electric vehicles and that the family business is assisting GM in establishing publicly accessible EV charging stations at dealerships.
She explained that the Level 2 charger at Wheelers Chevrolet in Merrill, Wisconsin, is one of just a few options for EV drivers travelling between Minneapolis and Northern Wisconsin or Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to recharge.
“We all like electric vehicles and what they are capable of, but the infrastructure is lacking,” she explained. “We can enlist dealerships to assist us in doing it.”