ELLSWORTH — Jay Darling, president of Darling’s Auto Group, announced Monday that Darling’s has entered into a purchase-and-sale agreement with Morrison Chevrolet of Ellsworth.

The agreement would give Darling’s a second location in Ellsworth, where it currently sells and services both new and used vehicles from its Auto Mall location at 16 Kingsland Crossing.

The deal adds the Chevrolet brand to a Darling’s lineup that already includes GMC, Buick, Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep in Ellsworth as well as Honda, Nissan, Volvo, Ford, VW and Audi in Bangor and Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Hyundai in Augusta.

Although the deal won’t close until Jan. 31, both companies, in a press release, stated that they are looking forward to a smooth transition and a continued commitment to customer and employee satisfaction.

“It will be business as usual as we plan to welcome the current Morrison staff to the Darling’s family and allow them to continue doing what they do best — going above and beyond to take care of their customers with top notch sales and service,” Darling said.

After running a successful dealership for many years and overseeing the expansion into a new facility, Bud Morrison and Clyde Lewis, owners of Morrison Chevrolet, decided the time was right for them to step away from the auto business. After careful consideration for their customers and their team of long-term employees, they decided that Darling’s was the company that best embodied the culture and experience that they have all worked to create at Morrison.

Kevin Tesseo, general manager at Darling’s in Ellsworth and Augusta, will be overseeing daily operations at the new location while the companies merge their operations. He reiterated Darling’s commitment to the staff at Morrison’s and his enthusiasm for the agreement.

“We’re excited to discover how they operate and how we can learn from each other while continuing to serve the local community,” Tesseo said. “The Ellsworth area, Downeast and really all of Hancock and Washington counties have brought us so many great friends, neighbors, customers, business, community and civic relationships that our decision to invest in this well-established dealership was an easy one to make.

“We are absolutely thrilled to be working with the Morrison team.”

The move represents a continued investment in the Ellsworth area for Darling’s, following the purchase of Town Auto’s franchise assets in 2004 and the construction of its current multimillion-dollar facility in 2006.

“We think it’s a great area and a great market to expand our operations,” Darling said. “We’ve always had a lot of respect for the team at Morrison and we see the addition of the Chevy brand to be a natural fit for us.”

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