BUILDING A BEHEMOTH IN A SMALL, NORTH COUNTRY NH TOWN
DCD Automotive Holdings was created in 2014 by Dan and Chris Dagesse, a father-son team that has built up numerous locations and the Nucar brand on the East Coast. Their majority focus is on the New England market.
Dan has a hefty automotive background that started with him as a sales associate in New Hampshire and turned Dealership Owner at the same location. Son and now co-owner Chris started at a young age working as a “lot boy” for his father in New Hampshire, and quickly learning the ins and outs of automotive and treating the dealership like a second home. After some time, Chris grew into a variety of different positions across all departments including car sales, service, parts, collision, and soon management to get a true understanding of how everything worked that his father was building.
As dealerships in Berlin went out of business, Dan expanded, building a new showroom in nearby Gorham, housing Ford, Dodge, and Jeep, and after writing “two million letters”, he bought the right to sell Hondas in the North Country. Mr. Toyoda himself even flew from Japan for the opening to see who had such fire to win over the rights to sell Japanese-made vehicles.
Under the Berlin City banner – a new approach and a new sales technique were born. No one else was combining manufacturers under one site like this. No one was trying to centralize all franchises under one roof, but the Berlin/Gorham markets were so small, that Dagesse made it happen and convinced manufacturers to let him cross-pollinate. Each showroom had its own franchise with its own service department, but it was one single location. Berlin City developed an almost cult following as people would call from out of state. Appreciative buyers even allowed delivery drivers to stay overnight from long drives. That was the core of building real relationships with customers. Novel, authentic, and the foundation for how Dagesse approached the rest of his career.
SHARING THE WEALTH
Dagesse built it from scratch and when the time came to sell Berlin City, he created one of the nation’s first ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan). When he sold the dealership, his employees collected half of the windfall. He rented out an entire luxury hotel in Whitefield, NH, and shared payments with all of his workers. A true life-changing moment. The Berlin City experience informed his management style and approach for decades to come.
A TEMPORARY RETIREMENT – A NEW ADVENTURE
Dan initially hung up his sales pitch and went to Florida, but was soon pitched on a Mercedes store. He liked what he saw and was able to head off a major bank repossession of the cars from the previous owner’s financial woes and went back to work with his son Chris by his side.
A DIFFERENT APPROACH
Realizing this was a different environment, Dan brought Starbucks to the showroom floor, had a masseuse on staff, and opened a boutique in the dealership for food. He also turned the old Costco building into a massive indoor showroom so buyers could check out the inventory in air conditioning. Buying in a great environment made the difference and he quickly began to outsell the competition, by a lot.
Dan’s success caught the attention of other dealers and none other than South Florida’s Wayne Huizenga, owner of the Miami Dolphins and nationally-known businessman. Huizenga felt the best way to compete was to buy Dan out…and after a LOT of back and forth, Dagesse set another career milestone for the industry, closing the deal with a $100M sale to the Dolphins owner, listed as the largest ever sale in automotive history. The buyer, Auto Nation.
ANOTHER BEHEMOTH – A FAMILY APPROACH
Not quite ready to call it quits, Dan soon found a dealership for sale in Delaware. At this time, with his years of experience now under his belt, Chris became the part-owner and General Manager at Lewes Auto Mall Chevrolet Buick GMC. The store that was once operating in the red soon was making $2M in profit. Another location was added to the roster, Nucar Chevrolet Mazda with Chris at the helm, and they quickly generated $5M in annual profits. This was the first Nucar location that was born, and the Dagesse team had no idea just how many more would soon be added.
The Dagesse’s success spread far and wide. One day, he got a call from Ernie Boch, a major dealer in the Boston area. Ernie was always intrigued by Berlin City. His dad sent him to the North Country store to learn how and why they were doing so well. Ernie wanted to sell after his dad died, so he hired the duo to find the right buyer.
Dan and Chris prepared a financial analysis of what the stores could do. They approached a major businessman on Wall Street and pitched the sale. Something didn’t mesh, but Dan recognized an opportunity of his own. In 2015, Dan approached Ernie with an offer to buy the dealerships himself. He and Chris began operating under the Boch name with the 5 purchased locations, quickly adding acquisitions in 2017 of Village Nissan in North Attleboro, and Clay Chevrolet, Nissan, and Hyundai in Norwood.
Their business acumen, experience, and connection to people led to a quick turnaround, which then led to a buying spree of epic proportions, purchasing dealerships all around the region. In 2019, the next Nucar branded dealership was acquired, Nucar Ford of Plymouth which kicked off the idea of expanding the name and eventually rebranding the current Boch branded stores. 8 acquisitions later, the company had rebranded all locations under DCD Automotive Holdings to Nucar. As of 2024, there are now 30 Nucar locations and there is no plan on stopping or slowing down.
Why Nucar?
Where did the Nucar brand come from?