EDMONTON, AB, Aug. 10, 2021 /CNW/ - AutoCanada Inc. ("AutoCanada" or the "Company") (TSX: ACQ), a multi-location North American automobile dealership group, announced that it has acquired Mark Wilson's Better Used Cars ("Wilson's"), an independent used vehicle dealership in Guelph, Ontario.  Along with AutoCanada's previous acquisition of Haldimand Motors, this acquisition advances AutoCanada's strategic objective of developing a Used Digital Retail Division in the Canadian pre-owned vehicle market.

Operating for over 60 years serving Guelph and surrounding areas, Wilson's is one of Canada's premier used vehicle dealerships, with facilities of 43,000 square feet on 16 acres, 24 shop bays and a full-service department.  Wilson's is a consistent winner of Guelph's Favourite Dealer Award over the years and has been recognized with numerous other dealership and service awards.  Mark Wilson and his team will continue to operate the business going forward.

"The addition of Mark Wilson's expansive used vehicle operations further expands on our Used Digital Retail Initiative – a strategy to address the substantial opportunity in the Canadian market with the dedicated sale of used vehicles across all channels, including completely online. This marks our second non-franchise dealership operation following the acquisition Haldimand Motors in Q4 2020.  As one of the best used vehicle dealer operators in the country, adding Wilson's to AutoCanada further improves the Company's bench strength and talent pool and allows us to assess best in class practices as we continue to build our Used Digital Retail platform," said Executive Chairman, Paul Antony. "This acquisition also aligns with our strategy of geographic diversification as it expands our network of used dealerships and furthers our exposure into the Ontario market."

"We continue to see the Used Digital Retail opportunity providing us not only with a Canadian first mover advantage in the category and a wealth of domain expertise, but the ability to build a Used Digital Retail operation with attractive unit economics that should allow us to scale rapidly without meaningful cash burn – a notable difference from some of the U.S. Digital Retail players," continued Mr. Antony. "Our Used Digital Retail Initiative sets the foundation to serve all customers for all transaction types as mobility ownership and transportation evolves, and we expect this initiative to be a key driver for the future of AutoCanada leadership."

About AutoCanada

AutoCanada is a leading North American multi-location automobile dealership group currently operating 66 franchised dealerships, comprised of 27 brands, in eight provinces in Canada as well as a group in Illinois, USA. AutoCanada currently sells Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, FIAT, Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Cadillac, Ford, Infiniti, Nissan, Hyundai, Subaru, Audi, Volkswagen, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, MINI, Volvo, Toyota, Lincoln, Honda and Porsche branded vehicles. Additionally, the Company's Canadian operations segment currently operates one used vehicle dealership supporting the Used Digital Retail Division, and two stand-alone collision centres (within our group of 17 collision centres). In 2020, our dealerships sold approximately 66,000 vehicles and processed over 756,000 service and collision repair orders in our 1,098 service bays generating revenue in excess of $3 billion.

Additional information about AutoCanada Inc. is available at www.sedar.com and the Company's website at www.autocan.ca.

Certain statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements and information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. We hereby provide cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as "will likely result", "are expected to", "will continue", "is anticipated", "projection", "vision", "goals", "objective", "target", "schedules", "outlook", "anticipate", "expect", "estimate", "could", "should", "plan", "seek", "may", "intend", "likely", "will", "believe" and similar expressions) are not historical facts and are forward looking. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to, among other things, future operating results of the acquired business, the successful integration of such business into AutoCanada's business, the development of the Company's Used Digital Retail Division and future operating results of the Company's Used Digital Retail Division.

The forward-looking statements included in this press release are not guarantees of future performance and should not be unduly relied upon. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections that, by their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated and described in the forward-looking statements. These known and unknown risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: future operating results, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations, financial condition and liquidity and the duration of such impacts; potential changes in the regulatory and legislative environment; volatility in interest and tax rates; operating risks inherent in the automotive retail industry; and changes in general economic conditions including the capital and credit markets.

Forward-looking statements involve estimates and assumptions and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors some of which are beyond our control and difficult to predict. Accordingly, actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. In particular, in presenting its forward-looking statements, AutoCanada has made assumptions respecting, among other things the  future operating results of the acquired business, the successful integration of such business into AutoCanada's business, the development of the Company's Used Digital Retail Initiative and the future operating results of the Company's Used Digital Retail Division.

AutoCanada cautions that the foregoing list of assumptions, risks and uncertainties is not exhaustive. The Company's Annual Information Form and other documents filed with securities regulatory authorities (accessible through the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com) describe the risks, material assumptions and other factors that could influence actual results and which are incorporated herein by reference. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof and AutoCanada assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required pursuant to applicable securities laws.

SOURCE AutoCanada Inc.