An Audi dealership that was one of the stores at the center of a lawsuit filed by Volkswagen of America against Napleton Automotive Group has been acquired by another dealership group.
Burlington Automotive Group acquired Audi Wyoming Valley in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on May 17 from Wyoming Valley Motors.
Burlington Automotive, led by Randy Lebowitz, Jake Lebowitz and Wayne Hileman, now has nine dealerships, according to DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company. Dave Cantin and Brian Brown of DCG Acquisitions handled the transaction.
Napleton Automotive Group had been set to acquire the Audi dealership on multiple occasions dating to at least 2016. The latest deal for Napleton to acquire the store collapsed last year.
Volkswagen of America last year asked a federal court in Pennsylvania to enforce a 2017 court order related to that store, and a judge ruled August 2020 in Volkswagen’s favor, deeming purchase agreements between Napleton and Wyoming Valley for its Audi and a Volkswagen store “null and void.”
Volkswagen sued the Napleton group late last year in federal court in New Jersey, seeking to block Napleton from purchasing those Audi and Volkswagen stores from Wyoming Valley, as well as Audi of Rochester Hills in suburban Detroit.
Volkswagen and Napleton, in court filings, both claimed the other party violated a 2018 settlement agreement relating to the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal.
The Audi of Rochester Hills store also involved in the tangle also has since been sold to another retailer. Rafih Auto Group on May 10 acquired Audi of Rochester Hills as part of its purchase of the four-store Eitel Dahm Motor Group.