‘Megadealers’ Help Keep O.C. New Car Sales in High Gear
Half a decade’s worth of lousy economic conditions has taken its toll on new-car dealers in Orange County, but despite losing more than a dozen dealers since 1990, the county still ranks way up there in the hierarchy of new-car marketplaces.
This year, according to Ward’s Dealer Business, the car retailing industry journal, 14 of the nation’s 500 largest dealerships and four of the largest multi-dealer chains are in Orange County.
The individual dealership total is down from a peak of 17 that made the top 500 list in 1990, but the number of so-called megadealers on the list remains unchanged.
The Ward’s rankings are based on dollar volume, not the number of cars sold, so don’t be confused when you hear several dealers claiming No. 1 status: It depends on what they are counting.
Orange County’s top dealer list is headed up by the nation’s two largest Mercedes-Benz dealers. Ward’s this year put Fletcher Jones Motorcars in Newport Beach in the driver’s seat as the county’s biggest single dealership and the nation’s 36th largest, with 1995 sales of $124.4 million. House of Imports in Buena Park is No. 2 in the county and 44th in the nation at $118.7 million.
However, House of Imports sold more new Mercedes Benz cars last year: 1,471, compared with 1,270 at Fletcher Jones. The Newport Beach dealership boosted its total revenue with dollars from the parts and service, body shop and used-car departments.
The county’s third-largest dealership by dollar volume, according to Ward’s, was Villa Ford in Orange. It ranked 88th nationwide and posted $101.2 million revenue. Toyota of Orange was fourth (119th nationally) at $93.2 million, and Tuttle-Click Ford in Irvine was fifth (133rd in the nation) at $87 million.
The megadealers that call Orange County home are Irvine-based Tuttle-Click Automotive Group, which has 10 franchises and reported $564.6 million in sales last year for 21st place nationwide; Webb Automotive Group, also in Irvine, with eight dealerships, $446 million in revenue and 32nd-place ranking nationally; David Wilson Automotive Group in Orange, five dealerships, 66th place nationally and sales of $282.5 million; and MacPherson Enterprises in Tustin, whose four franchises and $230.6 million in sales put it at No. 87 on the top 100 megadealer list.
