Herb Chambers will break ground in Burlington

Auto dealer Herb Chambers plans to break ground tomorrow for a new Audi/Porsche dealership in Burlington.

(Above is a rendering of what the new dealership will look like.)

Six weeks ago, Chambers presided over a similar ground-breaking ceremony in Westborough for an Infiniti dealership, and in the next few weeks, he plans to do the same for a new BMW dealership in Sudbury.

The US economy may be sluggish; consumers are fretting about high gas prices, but Chambers is forging ahead and reinvesting in his New England auto dealership empire.

In Burlington, that means relocating the Audi/Porsche dealership he bought about a year ago to larger space nearby.

"I hear everywhere that the auto business is bad," he said, "but we don't experience it."

Domestic auto brands, such as Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler are challenged, Chambers said, but some foreign brands are a different story.

According to Chambers, officials at Honda Motor Co. told him that Honda volume sales in New England were up 18 percent in April compared to a year ago.

Four of Chambers' 44 dealerships are Honda and 15 are for Ford, GM, or Chrysler brands, he said.

With recent ads heavily promoting his used-car business, Chambers said he also saw an uptick in used-car sales in April.

Sales of gas-sipping Vespas are booming.

Last month, Chambers said he sold nearly 80, compared with 35 for April 2007.

Speaking about the auto market in general, Chambers said: "The market hasn't gotten any bigger. We're just getting a bigger piece of it."

(By Chris Reidy, Boston Globe staff)

Herb Chambers is 14th in the Nation

March 30, 2008 - By Peter C.T. Elsworth - Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — Herb Chambers has retained his position as the 14th largest auto dealership in the nation, according to the latest listing by Automotive News.

“We’re obviously thrilled about it,” said Chambers from the Caribbean, where he was holding a sales meeting last week.

The ranking is based on new vehicle retail sales, with Somerville, Mass.-based Chambers coming in with 32,386 units. Combined with sales of used vehicles and wholesale sales, the company, which has three dealerships in Rhode Island and 41 in Massachusetts, sold a total of 63,933 vehicles last year. Group revenue was $1.7 billion.

At the same time, Chambers said he expects sales to be up by about $200 million this year — “sales could go to $2 billion if we’re lucky” — partly because of the full-year contribution of luxury dealership Foreign Motors West, which he acquired last June, and partly because of expected increases in same-store sales.

“I’m pretty optimistic, unlike most of the industry,” he said. “If you buy into (the doom and gloom), you can lull yourself into poor performance.”

The top dealership in the country last year was Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based AutoNation, with 683,867 total sales and revenues of $17.6 billion. Number two was Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Penske Automotive Group, which owns Inskip Automall in Warwick, with 388,642 total sales and revenues of $12.8 billion.

“2007 was supposed to be a tough year but it was our best year ever,” Chambers said. “And I think 2008 will be better than a repeat performance.”

“We’ve got great people,” he added, noting the company currently has about 2,000 employees. “I know everyone says that, but I really believe it. That’s why we’re successful. It’s not my ability.”

Chambers said when he started 25 years ago with a Cadillac dealership in New London, his plan was merely to grow the company.

“There were 33,000 dealerships in the country back then, and we were number 33,000 and one,” he said. “Now there are 22,000 dealerships and we’re very pleased to be number 14. We’re appreciative, but we’re not gloating.”