Most Orange County-based automakers saw June sales grow from a year ago. OC’s largest automaker, Hyundai Motor America Inc., sold 63,813 vehicles last month, or 8% more than a year earlier. Hyundai, part of South Korea-based Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, is temporarily headquartered in Costa Mesa while its Fountain Valley office campus is being built. Sister company Kia Motors America Inc. in Irvine sold 51,326 vehicles, or 14% more than a year earlier. Mazda North American Operations, also headquartered in Irvine, said its vehicle sales rose more than 3% from a year earlier to 19,911 vehicles. American Suzuki Motor Corp. in Brea sold 2,299 vehicles, up 1% from a year earlier. Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. sold 5,477 vehicles in June, a 34% drop that reflected a halt in production of three vehicle models. Mitsubishi’s sales rose 10% excluding the discontinued models.
Anaheim-based Fisker Automotive Inc., which doesn’t report monthly sales data, said last week it will partner with company stakeholder Leonardo DiCaprio to promote environmental-sustainability. DiCaprio, whose equity interest in the luxury hybrid automaker hasn’t been detailed, will help Fisker promote the environmental benefits of alternative fuel vehicles. The actor also will work to promote general environmental awareness.
First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. in Irvine completed its $39 million acquisition of Manhattan Beach-based Beach Business Bank boosting its assets to $1.3 billion. First PacTrust subsidiary PacTrust Bank is the second-largest bank based in Orange County, behind Irvine-based Opus Bank, which has $2.4 billion in assets. Robert Franko, who was chief executive of Beach Business, becomes president of First PacTrust, a post previously held by First PacTrust Chief Executive Gregory Mitchell, who remains in the top job. Four former Beach Business directors have joined the combined bank’s eight-person board. The bank now operates through 18 offices across Southern California, from Santa Monica to the Mexican border.
Costa Mesa-based Emulex Corp. will pay Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. $58 million in release and licensing fees related to a long-running patent dispute involving fibre-channel adapters and Ethernet technology. Broadcom is the biggest chipmaker based in Orange County, and Emulex is the sixth-largest maker of computer products here.
Silicon Valley landed one of the coveted satellite sites of the U.S. Patent and Trade Office, beating out Los Angeles and San Diego. The Orange County Business Council threw its support and lobbying efforts behind the Silicon Valley bid for an office in San Jose. Satellite offices also were awarded for Dallas and Denver, and the first new site outside of Washington, D.C. is set to open this month in Detroit
A unit of Santa Ana-based Identive Group Inc. filled a $1.7 million contract to supply the Justice Department with credentials-based access controls in the second quarter. The systems order was secured as part of a program developed by Identive to support long-term security initiatives. Identive makes scanners, readers, cards and other security devices for buildings, computers and financial transactions.
The average worker in Orange County earned $1,080 a week in the fourth quarter, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those working in financial services locally averaged more than employees in any other industry, at $1,878 per week. Leisure and hospitality positions trailed all others with an average weekly paycheck of $413. Statewide workers earned $1,100 a week; the U.S. weekly average was $955.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: OC business sales in June, when 144 changed hands, a 13% increase from the month prior and up 97% from a year earlier, according to BizBen.com. Anaheim topped a related list of business sales per city with 84 during the first six months of the year, followed by Santa Ana with 63. A total 753 businesses were sold between Jan. 1 and June 30, or 16% more than in the first half of 2011.
