El Paso Casa Auto Group grows again with purchase of 20-acre Borman Autoplex in Las Cruces
El Paso's Lowenfield brothers continue their plan of growing their already large Casa Auto Group by acquiring more new-car dealerships.
Their latest acquisition is the Borman Autoplex, the largest new-car dealership complex in Las Cruces and one of the largest in the Southwest United States, with four auto brands on a 20-acre site, Casa officials reported.
It's located at 470 W. Boutz Road, near Interstate 10. Las Cruces is about 45 miles west of El Paso.
"We believe that the future of the automotive retail world is going to require some expansion to compete" with large, national new-car dealership groups, said Ronnie Lowenfield, Casa's chief executive officer. He owns and operates Casa with his brothers, Luke and Justin Lowenfield.
The largest auto group with El Paso dealerships is Group 1 Automotive, a national auto group headquartered in Houston.
The acquisition comes almost a year after Casa bought four dealerships in Alamogordo, New Mexico, 68 miles north of Las Cruces. It's the Lowenfields' fourth acquisition in seven years. They took over Casa just over a decade ago from their father, Clay Lowenfield.
The brothers continue to look for other dealerships to buy in the Borderland and desert Southwest, Ronnie Lowenfield said.
They look for deals that add new brands or bring additional dealerships for brands they like, he said.
The Las Cruces acquisition added two new brands to Casa's portfolio, Hyundai and Mazda and brought in two additional dealerships for brands already in Casa's portfolio: Ford and Honda. Each of the four brands has its own showroom on the Borman complex, renamed the Casa Autoplex.
Casa now has 15 auto brands at eight locations, including four locations in El Paso.
They bought the autoplex from the Jeff Connole family, who years ago bought it from Frank Borman, a former NASA astronaut who founded it, Lowenfield said.
The sale was completed Sept. 20, but Casa only recently began running TV commercials about its new location.
The Las Cruces acquisition is expected to add about 4,000 new and used vehicle sales to Casa, bringing the group's total projected sales to about 18,000 in 2024, Lowenfield said. This year, the group's sales are projected to be around 13,000 vehicles, with about 60% of those new vehicle sales, he said.
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Most of the Las Cruces autoplex's 155 employees are expected to remain, bringing Casa's total workforce to about 780 people, Lowenfield said.
The expansion is expected to also help Casa's growing Internet sales, Lowenfield said. That's why Casa offers free delivery within 100 miles of any Casa location.
"Physical foot traffic (at showrooms) is decreasing. Online traffic is growing, online inquiries are growing, online sales are growing. And we think that is the trajectory."
Vic Kolenc may be reached at 546-6421; vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; @vickolenc on Twitter, now known as X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso Casa Auto Group grows again with Las Cruces' 20-acre autoplex
