Lambton Ford has officially been sold.
The Finch Auto Group has purchased the Sarnia dealership, and will take over for the departing Rob Ravensberg as of March 1.
Ravensberg said he has a lot of fond memories over his 24 years at Lambton Ford, including being a key part of the Sarnia Sting's Teddy Bear Toss, with Blackburn Media.
"The dealership had been supporting the Sting since they came to Sarnia in 1994," said Ravensberg. "That whole collaboration between the Sting, the dealership, and Blackburn Media worked extremely well. The Teddy Bear Toss started in 1998 and here we are 24 years later, and over 75,000 donations have been collected for local charities."
Ravensberg said he was also pleased to support the Salvation Army's Gift of Christmas and Noelle's Gift.
He said he's not ready to call it a 'retirement', but he plans to spend time with family, play golf, and pursue some other interests.
Ravensberg said Lambton Ford will be in good hands with the Finch Auto Group.
"The resources that are available through an auto group that size can definitely do a lot for the dealership," he said. "They've got single source resourcing with their IT and HR departments, and training and development with internal employees at different dealerships. A lot of times the dealers work unilaterally too to support each other, whether it's a used vehicle that can be sold at one of the other dealers or things like that."
Ravensberg assumed ownership of Lambton Ford from Harold Hall in June of 2015, becoming the sixth president in the company's history.
He originally joined the dealership in 1998 as Vice President of Sales.
Finch Auto Group President Ryan Finch said they're thrilled to take over the business, which will be rebranded as Finch Ford Lincoln.
"We are very thankful to Rob Ravensberg and his team at Lambton Ford Lincoln for providing us the opportunity to purchase this outstanding dealership and to become part of the Sarnia-Lambton region," said Finch. "Rob has built an incredible business and staff. We look forward to carrying on the tremendous work they have done in the community. The Finch Auto Group has a longstanding reputation of providing elite level customer service, high quality staff and training, and has a strong tradition of charitable endeavors in the communities they operate in. We look forward to becoming an integral part of the Sarnia-Lambton business and charitable landscape."
Managing Partner Mark Guy will be taking over the day to day operations.