Mike McKenna
sells auto stake
There has been a change of majority ownership at McKenna Motors Hawaii on Oahu.
Majority owner Mike McKenna, who also owns McKenna Motor Cars in Kona, has sold the majority share in his Kailua dealerships to Mark Caliri, who formerly served as vice president and general manager.
Following the Aug.1 deal, Caliri will assume leadership of the Windward Ford and Windward Volkswagen/Mazda dealerships in Kailua.
"I'm fitting into Mike's succession plan," Caliri said. "Mike is basically turning over the reins to the dealerships that he started to move onto other things."
Under the plan, which has a tentative five-year timetable, McKenna will continue working at the Kailua dealerships as vice president until Caliri is able to buy him out completely, Caliri said.
A long-time car dealer, McKenna entered the Hawaii market in 1986 when he bought Ala Moana Porsche/Audi/ Volkswagen, a dealership that had recorded lagging sales as a factory owned store. McKenna propelled the operation into an independent car dealership generating more than $30 million in revenues. He sold the dealership a few years later. In 1988, McKenna opened his Kailua dealerships.
Caliri began working with McKenna in 1998 when he joined the company as general manager of the Kailua operations. In 2001, he bought into the dealerships as a minority partner and became a vice president.
