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Fletcher Nation’s No. 2 Dealer

Fletcher Jones Motorcars in Newport Beach is the second largest auto dealer in the nation, according to Ward’s Auto list of the nation’s 500 largest dealers based on 2005 sales.

The Mercedes dealer, with $529.3 million in sales last year, was second only to Penske Automotive Group’s megadealership Longo Toyota of El Monte.

Longo, perennially the nation’s largest dealership, had revenue of $661.3 million last year, according to Ward’s, part of New York-based Primedia Inc.

Longo’s lead over Fletcher increased, from $76 million in 2004 to $132 million last year.

Fletcher’s revenue included $345 million in new auto sales and $95 million in used auto sales.

The dealership sold 5,927 new autos and 2,209 used ones.

Typical for a Toyota versus Mercedes showdown, Longo had to sell nearly four times as many new autos to beat Fletcher. Longo sold 23,689 new autos and 3,655 used ones.






Longo Toyota in El Monte: widened lead over Fletcher to $132 million last year

Two other Orange County dealers ranked in the top 20: No. 9 Crevier BMW of Santa Ana and No. 12 Mercedes dealer House of Imports in Buena Park.

Crevier BMW had 2005 revenue of $302 million, including $201 million in new auto sales and $59 million in used sales.

AutoNation Inc.’s House of Imports had $264 million in total revenue, including $166 million in new autos and $55 million in used sales.

Ward’s list omits a big OC dealership, Mercedes-Benz of Laguna Niguel, which had $294 million in sales in 2005.

Had Mercedes-Benz of Laguna Niguel been included, it would be No. 10, below Crevier.

Ward’s missed other biggies from the Business Journal’s yearly list of dealerships, including Irvine BMW with $242 million in 2005 revenue, Caliber Motors Mercedes Benz Anaheim Hills with $200 million in 2005 revenue; and Shelly BMW of Buena Park at $242 million.

Others on the Business Journal’s list and not on Ward’s: Lexus of Mission Viejo, $140 million; Lexus of Westminster, $140 million; Connell Chevrolet in Costa Mesa, $115 million; Villa Ford in Orange, $112 million; Norm Reeves Honda Huntington Beach, $110 million; Hardin Honda of Anaheim, $97 million; Allen Cadillac GMC in Laguna Niguel, $96 million; and Tuttle-Click in Irvine, $77.2 million.

Local dealers in the top 100 of Ward’s list: No. 43 Toyota of Orange with $197 million in 2005 sales; No. 78 Power Toyota Irvine, $162 million; and No. 91 Tustin Lexus, $158 million.

No. 92 on last year’s list, Power Chevrolet Irvine moved way down, to No. 437 with $81 million in 2005 revenue versus $146 million a year earlier.

One of the top dealer groups on the list was Orange County’s David Wilson.

His dealerships on the list: Toyota of Orange; Tustin Lexus; No. 102 Right Toyota of Scottsdale; No. 158 Toyota of Riverside; No. 179 South Bay Toyota Gardena; No. 260 Right Honda Scottsdale; No. 290 South Coast Toyota in Costa Mesa; No. 294 Toyota of Huntington Beach; and No. 491 Ford of Orange.

Wilson is set to open a Lexus dealership in Newport Beach this year.

In all, 16 local dealerships made Ward’s list, including several that were too small to qualify for the Business Journal’s list.

Ward’s list included 19 more luxury dealerships this year for a total of 100.


April Registrations Down

Registrations of new cars,a barometer of sales,were down nearly 11% in April from a year earlier, according to the Costa Mesa-based Orange County Automobile Dealers Association’s monthly report.

It’s a trend.

For the year through April, auto registrations were down 8.5%.

The biggest declining brands in April included: Acura, down 32%; Ford, down 24%; Kia, down 45%; Mini Cooper, down 46%; and Pontiac, down 32%.

Surprisingly, given gas prices, Hummer sales were up 87% in April. Land Rover also was up 112%, the biggest percentage increase in the county.

Eighty-four new Hummers were registered in April, up from 45 last April. And 168 Land Rovers were sold, up from 79 a year earlier.

The increase in Hummer registrations likely originates from sales at nearby Cerritos Hummer or Weseloh & Sons Chevrolet Hummer in San Juan Capistrano.

Those are the only Hummer dealers in the area.

Ben Bader, used car sales manager at Cerritos Hummer, said gas prices have nothing to do with sales. “Hummer buyers,I don’t think they care,” he said.

Cerritos Hummer’s sales are up because it recently has been doing a lot of advertising and discounting to move vehicles, Bader said.

Sales for both Hummer and Land Rover also were up significantly for the year so far.

Hummer was up 58% and Land Rover up 44%.

Indeed, OC was showing off its affluence in April, with luxury auto sales outpacing non-luxury sales.

In fact, nearly every luxury brand saw an increase in registrations (Jaguar was the only exception, with a 4.3% drop, or 45 cars).

Mercedes-Benz had an 8% increase, with 904 autos registered in April.

BMW had a 24% increase to 833 autos.

Lexus registrations were up 6% to 809 cars.

Porsche also was up, with 32% more registrations or 90 cars.

One of the few non-luxury increases was Isuzu, up 133%.

It was a big percentage increase but didn’t amount to much in terms of the number of autos registered,21 in April versus nine a year earlier.

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