The 39 largest auto dealers in Orange County combined for $5.16 billion in sales for the 12-month period that ended June 30, a 1.4% increase that marks the second straight year of a significant slowdown from recent years, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
Last year, the dealers increased sales by 1.5%. Two years ago, the top dealers here combined for a 5.9% jump in sales and had experienced similar increases since the recession a decade ago.
The 39 dealers that make up this week’s list sold 88,264 new vehicles, a 1.6% decline from the same period a year ago, and 35,417 used models, a 2.1% increase.
The local sales are below the national pace. U.S. auto dealers collectively sold a record 17.55 million new vehicles last year, a 0.4% increase compared to 2015.
The county has 122 auto dealers that generated $12 billion in sales last year and paid $989 million in taxes, including $736 million in sales tax, according to the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association in Newport Beach. Altogether they employed 12,200 with a total payroll of more than $701 million, the association said.
The auto dealers reported employment for sales and service personnel rose 3.5% to 3,101.
Sixteen dealers said revenue increased while 13 showed declines. Figures for the remaining are Business Journal estimates.
• Fletcher Jones Motorcars in Newport Beach retained its top ranking, reporting $649.7 million in sales, a 1.1% dip year-over-year. New car sales were flat at 6,720 while its used cars sales fell 12% to 2,233. It employed 288 sales and service personnel, down from 296 a year ago.
• Sales at No. 2, Crevier BMW, which Michigan-based Penske Automotive Group bought in 2011, were down about 1% at $343.5 million. The dealership sold 3,102 new cars, down 13% and which follows a 7.8% dip the prior year. Its used car division fared better, selling 2,656, a 23% uptick that follows a 22% increase the prior year. It employed 147 workers, down from 161 a year ago.
• No. 3, Toyota of Orange, which is part of Wilson Automotive Group, posted a 7.3% increase in sales to $337.7 million after reporting an 11% increase last year. It sold more new vehicles than any other dealer on the list—8,719—while its used vehicles sales added up to 1,759. The dealership employed 148 service and sales personnel.
• AutoNation Infiniti Tustin, owned by Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based chain AutoNation Inc., posted the biggest percentage gain in the group for the second straight year with a 33% increase to $88.8 million in sales. It climbed the most, nine spots to No. 23. Its new-car sales were up 55% to 1,527, and used cars were up 11% to 585. It employed 43.
Automakers
The six automakers with U.S. operations based in OC combined to employ 2,275 local workers as of October, up 8.8% over the year-earlier period. They sold 1.78 million cars combined nationwide, a 2.9% decline from a year ago.
Irvine-based Karma Automotive LLC took the top spot and accounted for all of the hiring gain by growing 47% to 588 employees amid an aggressive staffing campaign in support of the first customer delivery of the Karma Revero in May.
The company will finish the year with slightly less than 1,000 employees, including an additional 280 employees in Moreno Valley. Overall, Karma employment increased by 440 employees over the last 12 months.
“Growth will be more modest in 2018 given the significant growth in headcount we had in 2017,” Rod Hanks, Karma’s chief human resources officer, wrote in an email.
He said the company is looking to hire in the following areas: powertrain, engineering, supply chain, manufacturing and other areas, including program management, sales and technical support, marketing and design.
• Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America Inc., the largest automaker with operations here, sold 747,304 vehicles, a 2.3% decline.
Dave Zuchowski departed as chief executive in December and was replaced by Kyung Soo Lee in September. Lee, a Hyundai veteran since 1982, was most recently president and chief executive of Hyundai Translead, a San Diego-based manufacturer of dry and refrigerated van trailers, container chassis and converter dollies.
The subsidiary of South Korea-based Hyundai Motor Corp. boosted its OC headcount 1% to 489. The company also has employees at Hyundai Capital and Hyundai Engineering & Design Center.
“We expect to grow our headcount in 2018 and that will include positions across the entire organization including marketing, communications, corporate planning, finance, HR, engineering, sales, service, administrative services and other business lines,” Hyundai spokesperson Michael Stewart said in an email.
• Mazda North American Operations, ranked No. 3, decreased its headcount by 3.5% to 474. It sold 294,035 vehicles, a 3.8% decline from the same year-ago period.
• Kia Motors America Inc. in Irvine, part of Hyundai Motor Group, employed 329, up from 322. It sold 615,007 vehicles, down 4.4%.
• Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. maintained its staff at 240. It sold 98,909, a 3.7% increase.
• Isuzu Commercial Truck of America Inc. maintained its staffing at 155. It sold 24,000 vehicles during the period, a 4.4% increase.
