These days, with traffic relatively light, it take just 10 minutes to drive the eight miles between Arnaldo Bomnin’s two Chevrolet dealerships in South Florida. Though they’re that close, the two dealerships, Bomin Chevrolet in Dadeland and Bomnin Chevrolet in West Kendall ranked at the top of the charts in sales for all General Motors dealerships nationwide in the first four months of 2020.

“This is truly remarkable as it has never happened before – to have two Chevrolet dealerships, in the same geographic market, owned by the same person, ranking number one and number two in the nation,” said Bomnin. “It’s also unique because Miami has been known as an import market over the past two decades, but there’s no question that American made Chevrolets are proving to be popular again among our diverse community.”

The Dadeland dealership was tops while West Kendall was second.

New car sales have declined drastically year-over-year due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to IHS Markit, global auto sales are forecasted to be down 22 percent in 2020. Sales in the U.S. are forecasted to be down 26.6 percent from 2019 levels.

Yet, the two Chevy dealers aren’t down nearly as much as the industry average. West Kendall has seen sales slump 1.3 percent and Dadeland is off just 4.8 percent.

“The secret to our success is no secret,” said Bomnin, who lists the Corvette and Chevrolet pickup trucks as the top-sellers in the area.

Bomnin Chevrolet isn’t a long-standing dealership. It was founded in 2010 by Bomnin, a Cuban immigrant. The success of the dealerships has paralleled the regrowth of General Motors since the Great Recession. Bomninn Automotive has grown from selling 70 cars per month to selling over 1,400. Currently, Bomnin Automotive operates five top-rated General Motors franchises, with four in South Florida and a fifth in Virginia. The group generated $580 million in revenue in 2019.