Owner talks about future of Columbus Chevrolet, Cadillac dealerships after name change

Two classified legal advertisements that ran in the Friday Ledger-Enquirer have fueled speculation that the local Chevrolet and Cadillac dealerships have been sold.

That is not the case, said owner Emanuel Jones, who has owned and operated the Legacy dealerships since December 2008 when the Bill Heard automotive empire crumbled at the beginning of the Great Recession.

The advertisements, which were filed with the Muscogee County Superior Court, were notices of a trade name for the businesses operated at 3615 Manchester Expressway.

“I am 100 percent owner and that will remain well into the foreseeable future,” Jones said Monday when asked about the legal ads.

The businesses would operate under the trade names SONS Cadillac and SONS Chevrolet, according to the classified ads.

Asked if the business was for sale, Jones was careful with his words.

“There are things I cannot and will not talk about,” Jones said.

The SONS name is registered to a suite address on Vinings Slope in Atlanta. Son’s Automotive Group is based in Union City, Ga., according to the company website. They own an Acura dealership in Roswell, Honda and Kia dealerships in McDonough, Honda, Buick and Isuzu dealerships in Brunswick and a Mini dealership in Kennesaw.

A 2013 story in Automotive News, Sons Automotive Group is owned by Clay, Slater and Street Nalley, the three sons Atlanta-area dealer Jim Nalley.

The Columbus Legacy stores employ 112 people and is not the only dealership Jones owns. Jones, a Georgia state senator representing a metro Atlanta district, also owns a Ford and Hyundai store in McDonough. He has had the Ford dealership for 25 years.

He bought into the Columbus market when Columbus-based Bill Heard Enterprises, which owned 14 Chevrolet dealerships from coast to coast, filed for bankruptcy.

At the time, Jones paid about $25 million for the local Heard dealerships, Manchester Expressway property, furnishings and parts. The deal was approved in November 2008 by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern Division of Alabama.

This story was originally published September 25, 2017 at 1:34 PM with the headline "Owner talks about future of Columbus Chevrolet, Cadillac dealerships after name change."