The Pohlad family is selling the car dealership company it founded 15 years ago.

On Wednesday, the Pohlad Cos. – the family’s holding company – said it reached a deal to sell Carousel Motor Group to Oregon-based Lithia Motors Inc. for an undisclosed price.

Founded as Twin Cities Automotive back in 2008, Carousel will join a much larger operation at Lithia. Today, Carousel operates just nine dealerships in total, while Lithia has more than 290, according to its website. Lithia is also a publicly traded Fortune 500 company.

The sale of Carousel fits into a wider industry trend of smaller car dealership companies being folded into much bigger ones. Consolidation has been a theme in the industry for years. “Car dealerships were once mostly local businesses,” automotive research company Kelley Blue Book said in an April 2022 article. “But, today, large conglomerates routinely operate dozens of dealers, stretching across multiple states and selling cars of every brand.”

Carousel’s portfolio of dealerships has changed over the years. The company got its start when it acquired a BMW dealer in Minnetonka. It would go on to buy Audi, Porsche, Ford, Jeep, and Hyundai dealerships. By 2014, when the company changed its name to Carousel Motor Group, it was operating a dozen dealerships in Minnesota.

In July 2021, Carousel opened Minnesota’s first and only Ferrari dealership. And just a year ago, Carousel purchased a Ford dealership in Hudson, Wisconsin.

In a news release issued Wednesday, Pohlad Cos. executive chair Tom Pohlad said he’s confident that Lithia is the right partner to take Carousel “to the next level.”

“Over the last 15 years, Carousel Motor Group has built a strong network of dealerships and served thousands of customers in our community, thanks in large part to its team of talented and committed employees,” he said. “Carousel Motor Group’s reputation for excellence and success in our market has poised them for growth.”

The sale to Lithia is slated to close within the next six to eight weeks.

The Pohlad Cos., which still owns the Minnesota Twins, has bought and sold several companies over the years. In late 2020, the company sold radio stations Go 95.3 and 96.3 to a national Christian broadcaster. Then, in early 2021, the Pohlads sold longtime downtown Minneapolis jewelry company JB Hudson Jewelers to an Iowa-based company.