The Select Board approved five separate Class 1 licenses for the sale of motor vehicles to Asbury Boston Exotics on June 16 after a transfer of ownership.
In February, Herb Chambers agreed to sell its New England car dealerships to Delaware-based Asbury Automotive Group for $1.34 billion. The deal is expected to close in mid- to late June, according to Devon Bodey, Asbury’s legal counsel. The five Wayland dealerships at 531-533 Boston Post Rd. are Alfa Romeo, Bently, Rolls Royce, Maserati and Lamborghini.
Bodey said the management will stay the same and there will be no structural changes to the buildings or parking lots. Asbury’s goal is “to keep operating the business as usual, to keep everyone employed in their jobs,” he said. This is a transfer of business, but because Wayland does not have a provision for transfers, Asbury had to apply for five new licenses.
There are no plans for expansion unless the individual car manufacturers require updates to the facilities, according to Bodey. Although the Herb Chambers Companies owned all five dealerships, they are operated as five separate entities with different management and staff and are governed by the rules of each car manufacturer.
The Herb Chambers sale, which included 33 dealerships, 52 franchises and three collision centers, has been described as one of the most sizeable in the U.S. retail history. Principal owner Herb Chambers will serve as a special advisor for Asbury and will retain ownership of Mercedes-Benz of Boston, which is located in Somerville. He employs 2,200 people in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. is a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest franchised automotive retailers in the United States with 152 new-vehicle dealerships across 14 states. Asbury’s net worth is $4.56 billion as of June 6, 2025.
The company, whose corporate headquarters are in Atlanta, operates through two segments: Dealerships and Total Care Auto (TCA). They offer a range of automotive products and services including new and used vehicles; parts and service, which includes vehicle repair and maintenance services, replacement parts and collision repair services; and finance and insurance products, which includes arranging vehicle financing through third parties, and aftermarket products such as extended service contracts, guaranteed asset protection debt cancellation and prepaid maintenance. It employs around 15,000 people.
Asbury Automotive was formed in 1995 by Tom Gibson, a former vice president with Subaru of America, as a joint venture with financial group Onex Corp. of Toronto with a goal of building a chain of mega-dealers. Asbury’s strategy allowed the owners of the dealerships it bought to keep an equity share (30-49%) of the businesses while they continued to manage them. It also sought to identify their best practices and share them with its other dealers. Gibson’s first acquisition was a joint venture of Jim Nalley Auto Group, which owned 11 dealerships.
Herb Chambers Companies is one of the largest automotive dealerships in New England and is North America’s 17th-largest dealer group. Chambers built a successful career in both the copier and automobile industries. He founded and then sold A-Copy America to Alcoa in 1983. After having a negative experience purchasing a car, he entered the automobile business by purchasing an Oldsmobile-Cadillac dealership in 1985 and later acquired other dealerships.
