By Sadie Hunter
Hare Chevrolet has confirmed it will sell to Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.
Co-owner Courtney Cole said the sale will be finalized Monday, Jan. 23. A sale price has not yet been disclosed.
“They sought us out,” Cole told Current in Noblesville. “It was the right company, right place and right time.”
But Cole and her sister and fellow co-owner Monica Peck, popularly known as the Sisters of Savings, said they won’t be stepping away from the company completely.
Cole said their iconic radio commercials will continue “for at least the next five years.”
“We’ll do some of the local things and be the faces of the company for things like the (Noblesville) Mini Marathon and Boys & Girls Club.
“(Asbury) is going to try to keep it as is as much as possible,” Cole added. “All the employees will stay. Our general manager (Jason Horack) will be their general manager, and they’re using us for advertising.”
Cole said Hare currently employs more than 200.
“I think we’ll both be involved in the community. I’ve recently had some health problems, so I’m going to continue to try to improve that situation,” said Cole, a non-smoker who was diagnosed three years ago with lung cancer. “I would like to do some speaking as well. I enjoy public speaking. You learn to live with stage 4 cancer, and it kind of changes your perspective on life.”
According to Asbury public relations representatives, details surrounding the sale will not be released until Jan. 25.
Asbury, based in Duluth, Ga., was founded in 1995, owns 81 dealerships and operates 99 franchises in the Midwest and throughout the south, in Missouri, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Asbury became a publicly traded company in 2002 and employs more than 8,500.
Hare Chevrolet has a long history in Noblesville dating back to 1847 when the business sold wagons, which “gradually grew to one of the largest carriage and wagon-making companies of the Midwest,” according to the company, which touts itself as the nation’s oldest transportation company.
By 1912, the family was selling automobiles alongside its wagon and carriage business and in 1921, began selling Chevrolets.
