Vaden to expand Hyundai dealership by 17 acres

Land clearing underway with completion in 2026

An “Under Construction” banner hangs from a fence in front of the 17 acres of land the Vaden Automotive group purchased to expand its Statesboro Hyundai dealership on Brannen Street. (JIM HEALY/staff)

Three months after Vaden Nissan of Statesboro changed its dealership brand to Vaden Hyundai of Statesboro in May 2024, plans for an expansion of land, services and employees already were underway.

In August 2024, Jane Vaden Thacher, president of the Vaden Automotive Group, said:

“We knew it was going to be a great opportunity here when we made the switch to the Hyundai brand, but it has exceeded our expectations,” she said at the ribbon cutting of the dealership on Brannen Road. “We are looking at acquiring more land, doubling the size of our vehicle service center and eventually hiring more employees.”

And Vaden did acquire more land — a lot of land. The tract, directly adjacent to the dealership, bordering the Southern Crossing Shopping Center and The Saucy Shrimp restaurant, totals 17 acres. When combined with the property of the current dealership, the nearly 30-acre site will be one of the largest single-brand dealerships in east Georgia.

However, current permitting plans filed with the city of Statesboro show only the approximately five acres immediately adjacent to the east side of the dealership being developed as an “inventory overflow lot” for the dealership. The plan filed with the city shows the remainder of the 17-acre parcel as possibly being split into several individual parcels without specific plans.

Vaden has indicated enlarging its maintenance and service departments will be part of the expansion, but no plans indicated on the current plan.

Land clearing began more than a month ago, and the company announced that it hopes to have construction mostly finished in the first quarter of 2026 and the new dealership fully operational within a year.

The Vaden Automotive Group purchased the Nissan dealership on Highway 301 South in Statesboro from Cleve White in 2010 and opened it’s a showroom across from the Walmart Supercenter in 2012.

With the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant in Ellabell producing electric vehicles and with plans to add hybrid vehicles to the production line, Vaden made the decision to convert to Hyundai of Statesboro.

“We have been a part of the Statesboro community for a long time and have gotten to know so many folks,” Thacher said at the 2024 ribbon cutting. “This is a representation of our commitment both to growing our company and to investing in the Statesboro market. We are even more focused than ever on our commitment to Statesboro. We take our responsibility in the community very seriously. We look forward to growing the opportunities here at Vaden in Statesboro.”

Vaden Hyundai plans — Plans supplied to the city by architectural firm Hussey Gay Bell, show the outline of an "inventory overflow lot" to the right of the current Vaden Statesboro Hyundai dealership on Brannen St. The remainder of the 17-acre parcel purchased by the Vaden Automotive Group is show to the right of the overflow lot with no specific plans. (Plans Courtesy City of Statesboro/Hussey Gay Bell)

The Statesboro location is one of two Hyundai dealerships in the Vaden group, with the other in Brunswick. Also, Vaden operates Chevrolet dealerships in Pooler, Savannah and Brunswick, along with a Chevrolet-GMC dealership in Beaufort, SC. It has Nissan dealerships in Hinesville, Savannah and Hilton Head, SC., Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealerships in Brunswick and Savannah and an Infiniti showroom in Hilton Head.

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