Dealership to Aim at Individual Truck Buyers : Automotive: Tuttle-Click will limit sales to pickups, vans and sports/utility vehicles at new Irvine site.
The Tuttle-Click Automotive Group, an Irvine-based chain of auto dealerships, said it will open what could be the nation’s only Ford vehicle outlet solely focused on non-commercial trucks, vans and sports/utility vehicles.
The Tuttle-Click Ford Truck and Van Center is expected to open Wednesday in the Irvine Auto Center. The 24,500-square-foot dealership at 14 Auto Center Drive will eventually provide jobs for 50 people, said Robert Tuttle, a managing partner with the Tuttle-Click group.
“Some dealerships are selling more trucks than they are cars, and we’re one of them,” said Tuttle. “We wanted a dealership that dealt only with trucks and vans, which would really appeal to the public. We wanted something unique to increase our inventory and we wanted to have salespeople who are really knowledgeable about trucks.”
Tuttle, who also is president of the Orange County Automotive Dealers Assn., said the dealership will have a room where potential buyers can watch videos about the trucks and will offer specialty products for vans and sport vehicles. He predicted the South County dealership near the El Toro “Y” will be a success.
“Irvine is a good location and auto centers are becoming more and more popular,” agreed John Rettie, editor of the “California Report” for J.D. Power and Associates, an Agoura Hills-based automotive information company. “It sounds logical as Ford is doing much better in California in the truck business than they are doing in car sales.”
The dealership expects to sell more than 250 trucks per month and will accommodate more than 400 used and new non-commercial Ford trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles. It will also have the largest truck body shop in Orange County, according to Tuttle.
The Tuttle Click Automotive Group currently has several dealerships in Orange County, including Tuttle-Click Dodge/Chrysler-Plymouth/Jeep-Eagle/Mitsubishi and Tuttle-Click Ford in the Irvine Auto Center, Tuttle-Click Nissan in Costa Mesa and the Tuttle-Click Dodge/Subaru dealership in the Tustin Auto Center. The company also has nine car dealerships in Arizona.
