Lennie Lawson, whose lengthy automotive career has previously been linked mainly with the sale of Chevrolet products, announced Friday that he has purchased Gateway Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Inc., as well as the Mazda franchise for Greeneville.

The announcement was made in a news release, in which he stated that the purchase of Gateway Ford Lincoln-Mercury and the Mazda franchise was finalized on Aug. 14.

On that date, Lawson said in the release, he became the sole owner of Gateway and started working full-time at that dealership, which will combine both the Ford, Lincoln-Mercury franchise and the Mazda franchise.

Previously, the principal owner of Gateway Ford, Lincoln-Mercury and the Mazda franchise was Greeneville businessman Kent Bewley.

"Gateway Ford, Lincoln-Mercury-Mazda and our Quick Lane service centers welcome the opportunity to offer affordable maintenance and repair services to all of our previous customers," Lawson said.

He added, "We are very excited about the opportunities at Gateway."

The business is located at 1055 W. Andrew Johnson Highway.

Friday's announcement came at the end of 13 months of dramatic changes in Lennie Lawson's involvement in the automobile business in Greeneville.

In September 2008, he and his father, Max Lawson, sold their interests in several automotive dealerships and properties, including Lawson Chevrolet and Mountain Mazda, to Bewley, a Greeneville businessman and former partner.

In addition to selling his interests in Lawson Chevrolet and Mountain Mazda, Lennie Lawson sold to Bewley his interests in Gateway Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Carolina Chevrolet, and Toyota of Bristol, along with several other related companies and properties.

At the time, Lawson had been dealer-operator of Lawson Chevrolet since 1994, and he was general manager of Lawson Mountain Imports, which did business as Mountain Mazda.

The Lawsons' sale of their various automotive interests in 2008 came after 37 years of major involvement in the automobile business here.

The Lawson family had entered the local automotive business in Greeneville in 1971 with the purchase of what was then Bewley Chevrolet from Joe L. Bewley, who is now deceased.

Lawson Chevrolet opened on Aug. 2, 1971. Lawson Mountain Imports (Mountain Mazda) was established by the Lawsons in 1977.

Later, the family became partners with others, including Kent Bewley, in those and other automobile dealerships.

Before the Lawson family sold their automotive interests to Bewley in September 2008, Lawson Chevrolet was owned by Max Lawson, Lennie Lawson, Kent Bewley, Daniel Johnson, and Susan Holzschuh. Lawson Mountain Imports (Mountain Mazda) had the same owners.

In April 2009, after an absence from the new-car automobile dealership business for seven months, Lawson returned to the leadership of Lawson Chevrolet (although not to an ownership position) at the request of his former partners.

He managed the Chevrolet dealership from that time until his purchase of Gateway Ford Lincoln-Mercury in August, and has not been involved in the management of Lawson Chevrolet since that time.

Meanwhile, in February 2009, Lennie Lawson and his son, Blaine Lawson, opened and began operating Lawson Collision Repair Center (a company unrelated to Lawson Chevrolet) next to the new Pal's restaurant location on U.S. Hwy. 11E (East Andrew Johnson Highway) in Greeneville.

The collision center continues to provide collision and frame repair as well as professional paint services at the current location (the former John Deere dealership facility).

"We have a great team at Lawson Collision, and our business grows every month," said Blaine Lawson in the news release Friday.

Lennie Lawson made it clear in the news release Friday that his business focus is now entirely on the Gateway Ford dealership.

The formalities of transferring the Ford Lincoln-Mercury franchise to him have been completed he said, and the process of making the transfer for the Mazda franchise is under way.

Both franchises will operate as parts of the combined Gateway dealership, said Lawson, who is dealer and general manager of the business.

He also clarified in the news release why he did not repurchase the Chevrolet dealership that he and his family had operated and co-owned for many years.

"With GM in bankruptcy," he said, "we were unable to obtain the necessary financing to buy the Chevy store.

"Ford was able to avoid bankruptcy, and Ford Motor Credit was available to provide 'Floor Plan' financing to us -- so we became the Ford dealer in Greeneville."

He added, "Stranger things have happened."

Lawson expressed optimism about the future.

"The economy is starting to show signs of recovery," he said in the news release, "and we're seeing a strong rebound in traffic, sales and service business at Gateway.

"Banks are loaning money again, and the manufacturers are building more product.

"Our biggest problem now is getting enough new and used vehicles to sell," he said.

"People are looking for value," he said, "and Gateway is in a position to offer it with great quality products and aggressive pricing -- we're ready to go."

Asked in an interview Friday why he did not announce the purchase of the dealership earlier, he said that the decision to delay the announcement had been "a Gateway team decision."

"Everyone wanted to make sure we were ready to be the kind of dealership our customers deserve," he said.

"There had been so much change and turmoil in the automotive market, even locally, and we needed to ensure that we had properly adjusted to the new realities.

"That takes a lot of strategizing, training, and teamwork to make it work.

"Everyone at Gateway is ready to serve Greene County and upper East Tennessee with the selection, pricing, quality of service, and a simple, friendly buying experience -- we just wanted to make sure we had it right before we made the announcement.

"We're ready."