Tim Lamb Group brokers Lebanon’s Ebersole auto dealership sale to Bennett Automotive Group.

Lebanon’s Ebersole auto dealerships sold to Bennett Automotive Group

Chris Coyle  lebtown.com December 7, 2021

The Ebersole group of auto dealerships, one of Lebanon County’s iconic family-owned businesses, has been sold to Allentown-based Bennett Automotive Group.

Chris Zerfass, a co-owner of Bennett, confirmed the sale in a Dec. 7 phone call.

Ebersole operates three new car dealerships on West Cumberland Street in Lebanon: Buick-GMC, Honda, and Hyundai, plus a used car business on East Cumberland Street known as Ebersole Brothers.

Zerfass said all four are included in the sale, which he expected to be finalized on Dec. 8.

Known to Lebanon car buyers for decades as Ebersole Pontiac, the family-owned business was founded in 1920 by Irvin Ebersole.

Bennett, formed in 1951, operates a four-year-old Toyota dealership in Lebanon and multiple dealerships in the Lehigh Valley.

Zerfass said the Ebersole dealerships will now carry the Bennett name.

Calls to Ebersole’s president, Andrew Ebersole, had not been returned by publication time.

Zerfass said the Bennett organization loves Lebanon and respects the Ebersole family’s century of accomplishments.

“There aren’t many auto dealers any more that are fourth-generation,” he said. “And we just thought, being in Lebanon for almost four years now, we love this market. There’s a lot of growth.