Towne Auto Group’s BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, and MINI dealerships Acquired by West Herr Auto Group

We are pleased to announce that West Herr has completed the purchase of Towne Automotive Group’s BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, and MINI dealerships.

On Thursday, January 12, West Herr BMW of Buffalo, West Herr Audi Buffalo, West Herr Volkswagen and West Herr MINI of Buffalo will be open for business. With the addition of 3 new brands-Audi, Volkswagen and MINI, West Herr will now represent 27 different brands for a total of 39 dealerships, with 27 dealerships in the Buffalo market. These 4 stores will sell approximately 3,800 new and used vehicles per year, and West Herr will retain nearly all of the 166 employees. Additionally, West Herr acquired their northern Collision Center as well. Frank Downing will continue to own and operate all the Towne Automotive Group dealerships located in the Southtowns Area.

The BMW dealership located at 8215 Main Street in Williamsville was recently renovated and expanded to a state-of-the-art facility. The Audi dealership located at 6501 Transit Rd in Bowmansville is a nearly, brand new state-of-the-art facility.  We will be operating the Volkswagen store out of its current location at 5255 Genesee Street in Bowmansville. The MINI dealership located at 8240 Main Street in Williamsville will be operated out of its current facility, and eventually will be relocated to a building adjacent to our Acura dealership. The Collision Center is located at 5255 Genesee Street in Bowmansville.

Scott Bieler, President & CEO of the West Herr Automotive Group expressed that “Frank Downing, President of the Towne Automotive Group is very highly respected in Western New York for his business acumen, integrity, and highly ethical commitment to his customers and employees. Frank has true compassion for our community which is evident through his many community efforts and contributions. We are excited and look forward to carrying on the quality treatment of customers and employees that Frank Downing and his team have established through the years. All of us at West Herr are very excited to represent as the sole location of BMW, Audi and MINI in the Buffalo market.  We are also very pleased to now welcome Volkswagen to the West Herr family and the 27 brands we represent in Western New York.”

Towne Automotive Group, founded in 1969  is a family-owned auto group featuring 8 exciting brands in the Southtowns including Towne Ford, Towne Hyundai, Towne Mazda, Towne Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Towne Chevrolet. President & CEO Frank Downing expressed that “we recently started to consider strategically simplifying our business structure. This move will allow us to continue to serve the Western New York Community and our customers from our Southtowns locations in Orchard Park, Hamburg and North Collins.  We are dedicated to treating our loyal customers and our over 300 employees like family.  We will continue to operate as we always have over the past 50 years with integrity, professionalism and a focus on customer service and the community.  I have tremendous respect for Scott Bieler and the entire West Herr organization and have full confidence in the future direction of those dealerships and wish them all the best.”

West Herr, which was founded in 1950, started as a single point Ford Dealership in Hamburg, New York, and is the largest automotive group in New York State. Since 1950, West Herr has sold over 1,300,000 vehicles. With 39 locations in Erie, Niagara, Monroe, Ontario and Onondaga counties representing 27 franchises and 2,954 employees.  In 2022, West Herr sold nearly 60,000 vehicles and serviced more than 500,000 vehicles.  West Herr has received Business First of Buffalo’s “Best Places to Work in WNY” award for 18 consecutive years, recently named “The Top Workplace in Rochester” through the Democrat & Chronicle, and the Better Business Bureau “Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics” 8 times. The West Herr Automotive Group is dedicated to absolute excellence in customer service provided by honest, responsible, and respectful people. West Herr supports individual pride, company spirit, and community involvement.