Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) has formed a joint venture with Andrea Mantellini, the operator of a BMW/Mini dealer group located in Bologna, Italy. The joint venture intends to acquire and operate dealerships in northern Italy, Penske said in a news release today. Mantellini will manage day-to-day operations of the business. Financial terms were not disclosed. Penske appears to be buying a premium brand and entry into the market at presumably fire sale prices.
The newly formed joint venture has acquired the Mariani BMW/Mini dealership in Monza, Italy, a suburb of Milan, and home of a fabled Formula One racetrack. It is Penske’s stated purpose to enter the Milan market, whose metropolitan area is in world’s top 20 and Europe’s top 10 business and financial centers with the highest average income rates in Italy.
Penske Automotive Group based in Michigan operates 335 retail automotive franchises, representing 42 different brands and 29 collision repair centers. Until today, its European dealerships were in the Untied Kingdom. Roger S. Penske, 75, was paid more than $4.4 million for his services during 2011, according to the latest SEC filing.
Italy, of course, is undergoing a financial crisis that has seen the corrupt Berlusconi government collapse in disgrace, with questions remaining about its economic viability given its enormous debt and bloated union sectors. Mario Monti, the new Prime Minster, is currently engaged in talks to reform Italy’s labor practices and debt.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
