Triangle-based Leith Automotive, VinFast’s new flagship dealer, being sold. What we know.

A day after announcing it is one of the first U.S. dealerships for new Vietnamese automaker VinFast, Raleigh-based Leith Automotive Group confirmed it is being purchased by a New Jersey-based automotive group.

After 56 years as a family-owned business, the company said it has reached an agreement with New Jersey-based Holman to be sold for an undisclosed sum.

The deal affects some 2,000 Leith employees scattered across its regional network of more than 25 stores in the Raleigh/Cary and Pinehurst area. That includes Honda, Ford, Totyota, Kia and Chrysler dealerships.

The latest addition, Leith VinFast, opened this week in the Cary Auto Park off U.S. 64.

VinFast opens Cary dealership to sell its electric vehicles, not far from Chatham site

“The transition is expected to be finalized by the end of the first quarter,” Monty Hagler, a Leith spokesperson, emailed in a joint company statement.

The company shared the news with employees on Tuesday.

As part of the agreement, the Leith name, team and brand will remain in place.

Founded in 1924, Holman is also a family-run business and one of the largest privately owned dealership groups in the U.S. It operates 40 dealership franchises representing 20 brands from the East Coast to the Pacific Northwest.

Hagler said he expected the transfer of ownership to be “seamless” for its team and large customer base.

VinFast announced plans in March 2022 to open an electric vehicle assembly plant Chatham County.

It’s the largest economic development project in the state’s history, and is expected to create 7,500 jobs.

News & Observer reporter Brian Gordon contributed to this report.