About

Following World War I, Jake Sr.’s father, Walter Sweeney, became Cincinnati’s first used car dealer. Walter Sweeney operated several lots at a variety of locations, the most notable one being on Gilbert Avenue near Peebles Corner.  Walter Sweeney’s automotive background helped to give Jake Sr. the foundation necessary to begin building his own automotive career. After Jake’s professional football career had ended with the Chicago Bears in 1945 he opened his first used car lot near the corner of Reading Road and William Howard Taft in downtown Cincinnati. Jake’s charismatic personality and strong work ethic led to early success in his new career. Following a move to the corner of 12th and Vine in downtown Cincinnati, Jake’s solid reputation in the automotive industry grew along with the volume of business he was doing.

By the early 1950’s Jake Sweeney had established himself as the largest volume used car dealer in the city. Jake’s good business sense led him to open a second used car lot on Vine Street in Carthage Ohio as the industry trend spread to “The Valley” or what we now call the ” Suburbs”.

Jake’s unparalleled success in used cars prompted his first venture into new vehicle sales. In 1956 he purchased a Mercury Dealership located in Carthage. Within two years, Jake Sweeney Mercury became Cincinnati’s Premiere franchise, selling more Mercury’s than any other dealership in town.
Also in 1956 Jake formed Jake Sweeney Auto Leasing and also established a lease by mail business in twelve states that propelled the leasing business into one of the largest leasing companies in the nation. Little did anyone realize at the time but this was the birth of Auto Leasing in the United States.

By the late 1950’s Jake’s uncanny sense of timing lead him to purchase a Pontiac franchise located in downtown Cincinnati on 9th Street between Broadway and Sycamore. In 1962, Jake moved the Pontiac dealership to Galbraith and Vine. Jake Sweeney and Pontiac Motor Division were now poised to reap the benefits of the “Pontiac Dream Years”.
The 1960’s were indeed record years for Jake Sweeney Pontiac. Jake’s excellent reputation as a dealer continued to grow. In the eyes of the customer, Jake Sweeney Pontiac was THE place to buy a Pontiac. In the eyes of other dealerships, Jake Sweeney Pontiac was the “leader of the pack”.

By the late 60’s, Jake had become Ohio’s largest retail new car sales dealership. As the decade of the 60’s came to a close, Jake was forced with making a monumental decision. An opportunity to purchase a Chevrolet Dealership in a relatively newly developed area called Tri-County presented itself to Jake. At that time General Motors would not allow one person to own two GM franchises in the same city. So the decision was, should Jake sell his Pontiac franchise, which was still the #1, volume dealership in town, to purchase a Chevrolet franchise that had lost money in the first couple of years it existed?
Again, Jake’s sense of timing was remarkable. He made the purchase and Chevrolet launched into its’ “Glory Years” of the seventies. The company was profitable from the beginning and has never looked back. The Tri-County area continued to develop and is now one of the most desirable locations in the state of Ohio. Not wanting to “rest on his laurels”, Jake expanded in 1976 by acquiring Mazda and BMW franchises and operating them from the old Pontiac location at Galbraith and Vine in Hartwell until they relocated to Tri-County in 1987.

In July 1979, Jake purchased the Chrysler-Plymouth franchise in Tri-County, which rapidly became one of Ohio’s largest volume Chrysler-Plymouth dealerships. Jake Sweeney Chrysler-Jeep also ranks as one of the top CSI dealerships for the Chrysler Corporation and has won numerous achievement awards in this area.

Throughout the 70’s and 80’s, Jake Sweeney Dealerships have maintained their Number One positions in New and Used Vehicle Sales. In late 1987, a new era began when the “Import” franchises relocated to their Tri-County locations. Jake Sweeney, Sr. retired and Sold the company to his sons, Jake, Jr. and Greg. A period of rapid growth followed.

In 1989 Ground was broken in Florence, Kentucky for the construction of Jake Sweeney Hyundai. The Jeep/Eagle franchise was acquired from the Chrysler corporation and Jake Sweeney also was awarded the Saturn Franchises for Cincinnati. The company’s used vehicle operations continued to grow with the opening of the Vine and Galbraith wholesale outlet and buy here/pay here lots.

In 1996 Jake Sweeney Leasing and Jake Sweeney Auto Center relocated from the Vine Street Location into a Newly renovated 5 Acre Facility directly beside Interstate 71 and adjacent to the King’s Auto Mall in a new and upcoming residential and shopping area twenty two miles north of Cincinnati and five miles west of the Tri-County Area dealership locations.
By late 1990, Saturn of Springdale opened for business. The overwhelming acceptance of the Saturn franchise was immediate, and in August of 1991 Jake Sweeney JR opened Saturn of Florence. In April of 2003 Jake Sweeney Auto Center and Jake Sweeney Auto Leasing acquired the Subaru Franchise and established Subaru as one of the hottest brands in the King’s Auto Mall area. In Late 2005 Jake Jr and Greg completed a $5 Million dollar expansion and renovation of Our Tri County BMW facility.

Then in April 2009 The Sweeney Family decided that to best serve our internet buyers in the western half of the United States we would need a Dealership that could sell and deliver cars and trucks to all who resided there. Sweeney West INC. was born.  The Sweeney Family of Dealership continue to evolve and grow.  Over the years we’ve added brands like Dodge, Jeep and Fiat.

Although all of Jakes dealerships have grown and changed over these last sixty plus years his sons, daughters, managers and employees strive to follow Jakes core beliefs of high standards and excellence. Even though we have grown to over four hundred plus employees we are dedicated to you…without our customers of the past, present and future we don’t exist!

If we can assist you personally feel free to contact us directly, we look forward serving you!