Saban confirms he’s partner in Mercedes dealership

BroadwayJoe777 · Feb 18, 2014

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/18/saban-confirms-hes-partner-in-mercedes-dealership/

IRONDALE, Ala. (AP) - Nick Saban says he’s getting into the car business.
The Alabama football coach confirmed he and a partner are working to open a Mercedes-Benz dealership in the Birmingham area after lawyers for a competing dealer said they intend to subpoena Saban to find out if he was doing business with Mercedes.

“My partner and I have entered into a letter agreement with Mercedes Benz to open a new dealership in Irondale,” Saban said in a statement Monday provided by his attorney, Bobby Plott. “We are honored to join the Mercedes family and are extremely excited about the benefits this dealership will bring to the citizens of Birmingham, Irondale and surrounding areas.”

Saban’s partner, Joe Agresti, told al.com that land has been purchased for the new dealership near Irondale’s Grants Mill Road auto mall. But he said construction is delayed until a civil suit filed by another area Mercedes dealer is resolved.

Attorneys for Crown Automobiles of Hoover sued Mercedes-Benz USA in December, saying word that a second Mercedes dealership was planned for the Birmingham area derailed plans to sell the Hoover car lot and caused its owners “immediate and irreparable harm.” Mercedes-Benz attorneys have argued the automaker is within its rights to open another dealership.
Saban isn’t a party in the lawsuit. But his name came up when Crown Automobiles’ lawyers filed a notice of intent to subpoena the coach in an effort to uncover any business ties he had to Mercedes. Plott said the coach will comply with any subpoenas that end up being issued.

Agresti, who already sells Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Louisiana, said Saban years ago expressed an interest in partnering on an Alabama dealership.
“He told me, ‘I don’t have a minute to run it, but I love the brand,’” Agresti said.
Mercedes-Benz won’t allow the planned dealership to bear Saban’s name, Agresti said, but the coach will help with advertising and marketing and plans to appear at special events for customers.
“You’ll get to see his smiling face on TV often,” Agresti said.

Tideflyer · Feb 18, 2014

BroadwayJoe777 said:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/18/saban-confirms-hes-partner-in-mercedes-dealership/

IRONDALE, Ala. (AP) - Nick Saban says he’s getting into the car business.
The Alabama football coach confirmed he and a partner are working to open a Mercedes-Benz dealership in the Birmingham area after lawyers for a competing dealer said they intend to subpoena Saban to find out if he was doing business with Mercedes.

“My partner and I have entered into a letter agreement with Mercedes Benz to open a new dealership in Irondale,” Saban said in a statement Monday provided by his attorney, Bobby Plott. “We are honored to join the Mercedes family and are extremely excited about the benefits this dealership will bring to the citizens of Birmingham, Irondale and surrounding areas.”

Saban’s partner, Joe Agresti, told al.com that land has been purchased for the new dealership near Irondale’s Grants Mill Road auto mall. But he said construction is delayed until a civil suit filed by another area Mercedes dealer is resolved.

Attorneys for Crown Automobiles of Hoover sued Mercedes-Benz USA in December, saying word that a second Mercedes dealership was planned for the Birmingham area derailed plans to sell the Hoover car lot and caused its owners “immediate and irreparable harm.” Mercedes-Benz attorneys have argued the automaker is within its rights to open another dealership.
Saban isn’t a party in the lawsuit. But his name came up when Crown Automobiles’ lawyers filed a notice of intent to subpoena the coach in an effort to uncover any business ties he had to Mercedes. Plott said the coach will comply with any subpoenas that end up being issued.

Agresti, who already sells Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Louisiana, said Saban years ago expressed an interest in partnering on an Alabama dealership.
“He told me, ‘I don’t have a minute to run it, but I love the brand,’” Agresti said.
Mercedes-Benz won’t allow the planned dealership to bear Saban’s name, Agresti said, but the coach will help with advertising and marketing and plans to appear at special events for customers.
“You’ll get to see his smiling face on TV often,” Agresti said.

Let`s see, there must be some way to paint this in a negative light (blue font). Seriously, this is newsworthy on a national basis ? I`m certain that Coach Saban is absolutely the first coach to ever do something like this (blue font again).

TitleWave · Feb 18, 2014

BroadwayJoe777 said:
IRONDALE, Ala. (AP) - Nick Saban says he’s getting into the car business.

(Saban’s partner, Joe Agresti), who already sells Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Louisiana, said Saban years ago expressed an interest in partnering on an Alabama dealership.
“He told me, ‘I don’t have a minute to run it, but I love the brand,’” Agresti said.
Mercedes-Benz won’t allow the planned dealership to bear Saban’s name, Agresti said, but the coach will help with advertising and marketing...

And since "the brand" lost the scoreboard at Legion Field, maybe its affiliation with Alabama football and Saban becomes a Mercedes-Benz scholarship awarded each year to the best football player back in Germany, and 'Bama ends up with another Bjorn Werner?

BamaJama17 · Feb 18, 2014

By the end of the year everyone on the team will have a new car. (Blue font)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Special K · Feb 18, 2014

TitleWave said:
'Bama ends up with another Bjorn Werner?

Ok, I see what you did there. Nice.

Chukker Veteran · Feb 18, 2014

From an al.com article: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2014/02/it_wont_be_nick_saban_mercedes.html#incart_m-rpt-2

Saban will help market the property, give motivational speeches to employees and appear at events to show appreciation to customers, Agresti said. The coach will frequently record new ads for the dealership, Agresti said.

I'm really surprised Saban would want to do this.

TIDE-HSV · Feb 18, 2014

The article is sort of vague. Crown has been around forever, but the "Hoover car lot" makes it sound like they were trying to sell out. Several of the Japanese brands made wide-area wholesale deals with distributors, to get a foot in the door. For example, even today, all Toyotas in the southeast, south of the TN line come through a distributor in Jacksonville, FL, who gets his cut from every car. A lot of people in HSV buy Toyotas north, across the line, for this reason. OTOH, Daimler had a presence in the US dating well back before WWII. I'd be surprised if Crown had any sort of noncompete in their agreement with Daimler. I'd just have to see their dealer contract to make sense of their claim...

Drewy26 · Feb 18, 2014

To me, this should be the final nail in the coffin of rumors (hopes?) that Saban will leave Alabama to coach elsewhere. After all, if he were to leave, wouldn't that be bad for (the car) business?

Roll Tide 00 · Feb 18, 2014

And this is news why?

Alasippi · Feb 18, 2014

My ad firms primary account base has always been automobile dealerships. So I've dealt with many different types of owner's.
Those that grew up in the car business, working their way from sales person, to service manager or sales manager, finance manager, to franchise owner, know the business inside out and have a pretty good success rate.
I've also dealt with big money guys who thought they'd "venture out" from their successful business, buy an auto franchise, and then try to learn the car business. They have lost their butt. Never seen an exception.
Coach Saban will give the dealership a big advantage because of who he is, and his celebrity status. But I tell you what, he and his partner better hire the right guy to run it, or that coaches salary is going to look small in a hurry. You literally can lose millions very fast--just ask Deuce McCalister.
I'm sure they'll do their homework, get the right personnel, and the dealership will probably do well, but personally I think he's crazy lol. Buy Walmart stock dude.
sip

B1GTide · Feb 18, 2014

Hoping Saban has a better outcome here than in some of his other ventures.

BroadwayJoe777 · Feb 18, 2014

TIDE-HSV said:
The article is sort of vague. Crown has been around forever, but the "Hoover car lot" makes it sound like they were trying to sell out. Several of the Japanese brands made wide-area wholesale deals with distributors, to get a foot in the door. For example, even today, all Toyotas in the southeast, south of the TN line come through a distributor in Jacksonville, FL, who gets his cut from every car. A lot of people in HSV buy Toyotas north, across the line, for this reason. OTOH, Daimler had a presence in the US dating well back before WWII. I'd be surprised if Crown had any sort of noncompete in their agreement with Daimler. I'd just have to see their dealer contract to make sense of their claim...

Spoken like a true car salesman...

Alasippi · Feb 18, 2014

I'll say this as well. If Coach Saban wants to take on other projects and I'm his financial advisor, I'd say, "Ok coach..the car dealership is a very risky proposition and could be a continuous money pit. Why don't we write a book called "The Key To Winning Championships", sell about 20 million copies and make 60 million in three months after publication"?
I'd also ask, "Coach, do you really want the CLUTTER"?
I remember when Coach Bryant invested in a car dealership and then started entertaining offers from the Dolphins etc. Result--6-5, 6-5.

Alasippi · Feb 18, 2014

Chukker Veteran said:
From an al.com article: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2014/02/it_wont_be_nick_saban_mercedes.html#incart_m-rpt-2

I'm really surprised Saban would want to do this.

Me too. And believe it or not, from an advertising perspective, he may not be that effective of a spokesperson. People will possibly think, "Hey Coach, I love you, but you do your job and don't try to convince me that I should buy my car from you", because, honestly, he may just be a partner, but everybody who knows about this is going to consider Coach Saban to be THE owner of a car dealership.
I also wonder how this will conflict with his agreement to endorse Ford Trucks, which is part of the SEC contract deal that pays the coaches to endorse Golden Flake, Coke, etc...

TheAccountant · Feb 18, 2014

Alasippi said:
Those that grew up in the car business, working their way from sales person, to service manager or sales manager, finance manager, to franchise owner, know the business inside out and have a pretty good success rate.
I've also dealt with big money guys who thought they'd "venture out" from their successful business, buy an auto franchise, and then try to learn the car business. They have lost their butt. Never seen an exception.
Coach Saban will give the dealership a big advantage because of who he is, and his celebrity status. But I tell you what, he and his partner better hire the right guy to run it, or that coaches salary is going to look small in a hurry. You literally can lose millions very fast--just ask Deuce McCalister.
I'm sure they'll do their homework, get the right personnel, and the dealership will probably do well, but personally I think he's crazy lol. Buy Walmart stock dude.
sip

I'd say Saban's partner has a pretty firm understanding of how to open and operate a dealership.

Joseph A. Agresti
Auto RetailMr. Agresti is currently the President and owner of Mercedes-Benz of Baton Rouge, consistently among the nation’s highest performing dealerships as measured by return on sales and customer satisfaction. In 2009, Mr. Agresti was the number one-ranked dealer in the country, according to Mercedes-Benz internal “best of the best” scoring model. Additionally, he serves on Mercedes-Benz Dealer Board of Directors.

Prior to Mercedes-Benz of Baton Rouge, Mr. Agresti served as Senior Vice President and Director of Operations for the Asbury Automotive Group, Inc., a NYSE-listed consolidator of automobile retail franchises and a former Ripplewood portfolio company. While at Asbury, Mr. Agresti helped build the management infrastructure for the company and had responsibility for operations, profit improvement initiatives, acquisition valuation, post-merger integration, internal audit, strategic sourcing, fixed operations, finance and insurance and customer experience areas. Mr. Agresti managed the company’s nationwide best practice efforts, peer reviews, and operational swat team efforts.

Prior to Asbury, Mr. Agresti worked as a CPA at Arthur Andersen in their Metro New York practice. As a manager he concentrated on conducting due diligence on M&A assignments. His primary focus was in the retail automotive space. Mr. Agresti graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in accounting.

http://www.onerockcapital.com/partners.aspx?teamID=11

theBIGyowski · Feb 18, 2014

TheAccountant said:
In 2009, Mr. Agresti was the number one-ranked dealer in the country, according to Mercedes-Benz internal “best of the best” scoring model. Additionally, he serves on Mercedes-Benz Dealer Board of Directors.

That is why Crown is trying to stop this. CNS can get the dealership some quick money...but in the long run it will be Agresti who determines how profitable the whole thing is. He appears to know what he's doing.

CrimsonblakeII · Feb 18, 2014

Well if he wanted to make money he'd open a BMW dealership, being that it's a better product and all. I may have a slight bias towards them seeing as how i work for BMW

KrAzY3 · Feb 18, 2014

If you are an Alabama fan, and you have money to burn... why wouldn't you buy your Mercedes from Saban? I mean, it would say something cool on it like Saban Mercedes, and if someone is going to be making the money anyway, it might as well be him, not like poor guys run dealerships.

RTR91 · Feb 18, 2014

KrAzY3 said:
If you are an Alabama fan, and you have money to burn... why wouldn't you buy your Mercedes from Saban? I mean, it would say something cool on it like Saban Mercedes, and if someone is going to be making the money anyway, it might as well be him, not like poor guys run dealerships.

Mercedes won't let them use Saban. The dealership will be Irondale or Birmingham Mercedes. I agree, though. If you have the money to buy a MB, why not buy it from a dealership associated with Saban?

gtowntide · Feb 18, 2014

So now recruits will no longer get Dodge Chargers?

Saban confirms he’s partner in Mercedes dealership

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