Fleet solutions and upfitting at scale
Founded in 1995, USA Automotive Partners (USAAP) operates three dealership locations and Cap Fleet Upfitters, delivering mission-ready vehicles for businesses and government fleets nationwide. The group has become one of the nation’s leading GM fleet dealers, ranked #1 for 17 consecutive years, and has successfully upfitted more than 15,000 vehicles for police, emergency, and commercial use.
Gerhard Engelbrecht CEO, USA Automotive Partners
By 2023, USAAP had strong sales volume, more than $200M in revenue and record fleet deliveries, but leadership and operations lagged behind its scale. The company was still run largely by friends and legacy hires without professional management, modern systems, or lean processes. Without new leadership, stronger culture, and organizational structure, growth would stall and efficiency would suffer.
Skylark invested in USAAP in 2023, focusing first on leadership and structure:
Transitioned out the prior CEO and recruited Gerhard Engelbrecht as CEO, bringing engineering and operational expertise to lead the business. Skylark also supported the hiring of a new CFO and CTO.
Allowed Gerhard the time and space to rebuild the management team over 18 months, prioritizing the right talent over quick fixes.
Supported process and system upgrades to resolve deep inefficiencies in finance, production, and reporting.
Provided direct involvement from Skylark partner Chase Eckert, who met with the team weekly and often daily, handling lender forbearance issues and legal matters so management could focus on building the business.
CEO, USA Automotive Partners
