A Quebec dealership group is making a significant move south of the border, turning years of Canadian expansion into its first operating presence in the United States. Groupe Olivier completed the acquisition of three Michigan dealerships on October 19, 2026: Bell Chevrolet Cadillac, Bell Ford Lincoln and Knapp Chevrolet.
The purchase gives the company an immediate cluster of dealerships in southern Michigan rather than requiring it to build a U.S. operation one location at a time. It also represents a milestone for a business that has expanded rapidly across Quebec and New Brunswick and had previously explored other American opportunities. With U.S. dealership acquisitions remaining active in 2026, Groupe Olivier is entering the market at a time when established automotive retailers continue to pursue scale, geographic diversification and stronger regional networks.
Three Michigan Stores Give Groupe Olivier Its First U.S. Foothold
Groupe Olivier’s American expansion begins with two dealerships in Adrian and a third in nearby Blissfield. Bell Chevrolet Cadillac operates at 1313 E. US Highway 223 in Adrian, while Bell Ford Lincoln is located at 4510 W. US Highway 223. Knapp Chevrolet operates farther east along the same highway at 11003 E. US 223 in Blissfield. The transaction was completed by Groupe Olivier president Jacques Olivier alongside Daniel Fox, the group’s vice-president, and Michel Martineau, its treasurer and secretary. The stores had been part of Greg Bell Automotive, and automotive mergers-and-acquisitions firm DSMA assisted with the transaction through teams working on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. For Groupe Olivier, buying three established locations at once creates an immediate local network representing Chevrolet, Cadillac, Ford and Lincoln rather than leaving the Canadian company with a single isolated U.S. dealership.
The acquisition also brings established local businesses and customer relationships into the Groupe Olivier network. Knapp Chevrolet, for example, traces its roots to 1947, when the business began with an Oldsmobile franchise. Pontiac and Buick were added in 1971, the dealership moved to its current Blissfield location in 1981, and Chevrolet was added in 1982. Knapp says it has served Lenawee County for more than 50 years and markets vehicles and service to customers in communities including Blissfield, Adrian, Dundee and the Toledo area. Bell’s Adrian operations similarly sell both new and pre-owned vehicles while maintaining parts and service departments. That existing infrastructure matters because Groupe Olivier is not simply purchasing real estate or franchise rights. It is taking control of functioning businesses with employees, inventories, service operations and long-standing customer bases. Maintaining that local continuity while introducing Groupe Olivier’s own operating practices will be one of the first tests of the group’s U.S. strategy.
The Expansion Was Years in the Making
The Michigan purchase did not come out of nowhere. Jacques Olivier had already signalled that his company was looking beyond Canada after building a large dealership network at home. AutoMédia’s 2026 directory, which counted one dealership for each postal address and was current to July 31, listed Groupe Olivier with 21 Canadian dealerships. By the time the Michigan acquisition was announced in October, industry coverage described the company as operating 26 dealerships across Quebec and New Brunswick and representing a broad collection of brands including Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Mazda, Kia, Ford, Dodge, Ram, Jeep, Chrysler, Chevrolet and Cadillac. The group’s own dealership network includes locations spread across regions ranging from Laval and Saint-Hubert to Sept-Îles and Baie-Comeau, as well as operations in New Brunswick. That geographic reach helps explain why another Canadian province was not necessarily the only logical next step for growth.
The United States had already been on Groupe Olivier’s radar. Jacques Olivier previously disclosed that the company had pursued the acquisition of a dealership in Vermont, only for the transaction to collapse late in the process because of environmental issues. Michigan therefore represents the successful continuation of a strategy that had already been tested once. Olivier said the company believed its Quebec expansion was well underway and that it needed to begin looking elsewhere. The three-store Michigan cluster may prove more useful than a lone dealership would have been because the locations are concentrated in the same southern Michigan corridor, giving management an opportunity to develop shared regional knowledge and processes. AutoMédia also reported that Groupe Olivier is examining how some of its used-vehicle practices could be applied to improve efficiency, shorten delays and better control costs. Rather than treating the Michigan stores merely as distant additions to a Canadian portfolio, the acquisition creates an opportunity for the company to determine which parts of its operating model can cross the border successfully and which will need to be adapted to American conditions.
Michigan Offers Scale, but It Comes With a Different Rulebook
Owning dealerships in another country brings challenges that do not disappear simply because many of the same manufacturers operate on both sides of the border. Michigan requires businesses operating as vehicle dealers to be licensed by the state. Requirements can include an established place of business, municipal and zoning approvals, Michigan no-fault fleet insurance and a vehicle-dealer surety bond. A new-vehicle dealer also needs a franchise agreement with the manufacturer whose vehicles it sells. Michigan franchise law provides another important layer: manufacturers generally have up to 75 days after receiving the completed forms and information required for a proposed dealership transfer to approve or reject the transaction. If a manufacturer fails to act within that statutory period, the transfer is considered approved under state law. Groupe Olivier’s existing Canadian relationships with automakers therefore did not automatically provide approval for the American stores. Jacques Olivier and DSMA both acknowledged that additional steps were necessary and that cross-border transactions require an understanding of different regulatory and manufacturer processes.
The timing also places Groupe Olivier inside an unusually active U.S. dealership acquisition market. Haig Partners reported that the number of dealerships acquired in the United States during the first half of 2026 increased 14.3% from the same period in 2025, even though the total number of transactions increased only 3.2%. That difference indicates that buyers have increasingly been purchasing multiple stores in individual transactions. Five deals involving at least five dealerships were completed during the first half of 2026, compared with none during the comparable period a year earlier. Haig also found that domestic-brand dealerships accounted for 48.3% of acquisitions made by buyers outside the industry’s Top 20 groups over the preceding 24 months, making Groupe Olivier’s Chevrolet, Cadillac, Ford and Lincoln purchase consistent with a broader pattern among regional and privately owned dealership groups. Valuations remain elevated as well: Haig estimated the average “blue sky” value of a publicly owned dealership at $18.2 million for the 12 months ending in the second quarter of 2026, more than double the 2019 average of $8.3 million. No purchase price for Groupe Olivier’s Michigan transaction was disclosed in the reports reviewed.
The broader Canada-U.S. commercial environment adds another layer to the move, but Groupe Olivier has indicated that it does not expect current bilateral tensions to derail its ambitions. The more immediate challenge will be operational: preserving the value of three established Michigan businesses while learning a new regulatory system, maintaining manufacturer relationships and deciding which Canadian practices make sense in the American market. If the Michigan stores perform well under the new ownership, they could become more than three additional rooftops. They could provide Groupe Olivier with the operational base and experience needed for further acquisitions in the world’s largest neighbouring automotive market.
