Download the 2011 OC’s AUTO DEALERS List (pdf)
The 30 largest automobile dealers in Orange County saw revenue rise nearly 6% to $3.4 billion in 2010, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The list ranks auto dealers by sales of new and used autos plus service revenue.
The bump reflects an industry on the rebound, following two years of the worst declines since the 1970s. Sales fell 19% in 2009 from 2008 and 15% in 2008 from 2007.
Dealers on the list boosted new auto sales 3% last year to 54,296 autos. Used auto sales were up 4.6% to 30,682.
Dealers predict sales will keep rising in 2011, driven by replacement of old vehicles, improved household finances, low interest rates and a mildly recovering economy.
Declining home values are likely to remain a drag on the industry, stymieing a more robust rebound.
The county’s new auto registrations, a barometer of sales, are forecast to rise 13% to 124,000 vehicles this year, according to Newport Beach-based Orange County Automobile Dealers Association.
Still Off
Auto registrations still are far off the 197,041 autos seen in 2004.
Even with a pick-up in sales, dealers have done little hiring.
The 30 dealers combined employ 776 salespeople and 1,689 service people, both up 3% from a year earlier.
The slight increases are a turnaround from cuts made in 2008 and 2009.
Fletcher Jones Motor Cars of Newport Beach easily held the top spot on the list with 2010 sales down less than a percent to $430 million.
Fletcher Jones is the second largest dealer in the nation after El Monte’s Longo Toyota.
The Mercedes-Benz dealer sold 4,616 new autos last year, 2% fewer than in 2009. It sold 1,812 used vehicles last year, also down 2%.
No. 2 Crevier BMW of Santa Ana boosted sales 8.5% to $277 million by revving up used auto sales 16% to 1,854 vehicles.
Crevier sold 3,382 new autos last year, up 4%.
Rounding out the top five dealers: No. 3 Irvine BMW, which saw sales off less than a percent to $195 million; No. 4 Mercedes-Benz of Laguna Niguel, down nearly 3% to $190 million; and No. 5 House of Imports of Buena Park, up nearly 7% to $173 million.
Figures for seven dealers are Business Journal estimates. The list was expanded by five dealers from 2009.
Newcomers
The newcomers: No. 26 Irvine-based Tuttle-Click Inc., a seller of Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands, up nearly 20% to $60 million; No. 27 Power Toyota Buena Park, up 30% to $56 million; No. 28 Tuttle-Click Ford Inc. of Irvine, up nearly 15% to $56 million; No. 29 Allen Cadillac GMC Hyundai of Laguna Niguel, estimated at $50 million; and No. 30 Connell Nissan of Costa Mesa, down 3% to $44 million.
Toyota dealers, some of which likely still are feeling the sting of massive recalls by Toyota Motor Corp., saw mixed sales.
No. 8 Toyota of Orange, the county’s largest Toyota dealer, sold 5,904 new and used autos last year and saw revenue inch up 1% to $134 million.
No. 19 Toyota Place of Garden Grove boosted sales 26% to $76 million.
No. 15 Toyota of Huntington Beach saw sales fall 4% to $87 million. No. 23 Elmore Toyota of Westminster saw sales shrink 3% to $66 million.
Honda dealers boosted sales, likely as some buyers shifted from Toyota.
No. 18 Honda World of Westminster increased sales 18% to $80 million. No. 25 Freeway Honda boosted sales 24% to $63 million.
Hyundai and Kia, units of South Korea’s Hyundai Kia Automotive Group with U.S. headquarters in the county, saw record sales in 2010.
But their local dealers didn’t sell enough autos to crack our top 30, other than No. 29 Allen Cadillac GMC Hyundai.
European and Japanese brands rule the market here.
Mercedes-Benz and BMW dealers top our list by revenue, while Toyota dealers sell the most autos here.
No. 11 Newport Auto Center, which sells Bentley, Porsche and Audi brands, boosted sales 28% to $112 million. It sold 765 new autos, up 23%, and 286 used autos, up nearly 10%.
Lexus dealers also fared well on the list.
No. 7 Newport Lexus boosted sales nearly 6% to $136 million, driven by used vehicle sales. New auto sales were down about 1%, at 1,680, while used auto sales rose 9% to 1,632.
No. 14 Tustin Lexus saw sales rise 13% to $90 million. Both Newport Lexus and Tustin Lexus are owned by Orange-based David Wilson Automotive Group, which also owns Toyota of Orange, Toyota of Huntington Beach, South Coast Toyota and Freeway Honda.
