Dealership Brings Back Hyundai, Suzuki
The giant Tuttle-Click Automotive Group has picked up franchises for Hyundai and Suzuki dealerships in the Irvine Auto Center, signaling renewed confidence in the two car makers.
The Irvine-based chain had dropped the same franchises five years ago, citing poor sales. But American Suzuki Motor Corp.’s new mini sport-utility vehicle, the V-6 powered Grand Vitara, and Hyundai’s improved quality and industry-leading warranty program are rekindling buyer interest. And that has rekindled Tuttle-Click’s interest, company co-owner Bob Tuttle said.
“We are taking the opportunity to get back with these manufacturers because of the commitment they have made” to provide vehicles that dealers can sell with confidence, he said.
Tuttle-Click’s move “should provide a nice boost for the two companies’ sales” in the important south Orange County market, said Wes Brown, an industry analyst with Nextrend in Thousand Oaks.
“It tells management [at Suzuki and Hyundai] that they are on the right track, so it is important internally,” Brown said. “And it helps give consumers a better opinion of the cars because they see that a major dealer is handling them. It says they are cars worth looking at.”
Brea-based American Suzuki, which sold just 37,608 cars and sport-utility vehicles last year, is one of the smallest car companies active in the United States. It was hurt badly in the mid-1980s by a negative review of its then-best-selling Samurai sport-utility. The Samurai was subsequently dropped from the U.S. market and Suzuki’s sales began a slow upward climb--topped by a 28% jump last year.
The company’s 1998 sales were boosted by the well-received Esteem station wagon, which debuted the previous year, and by the introduction late in the year of the Grand Vitara--a 1999 model-year vehicle that has won praise from automotive critics.
Similarly, Hyundai Motor America in Fountain Valley saw sales tumble when its low-priced Excel economy car gained a reputation for poor reliability in the late 1980s.
The South Korean car company has since re-engineered its entire line, dropped the Excel and won over most critics. But its annual U.S. sales have been hovering just below the 100,000 mark for several years, and Hyundai is attempting to woo the public with an unprecedented warranty package.
Hyundai is offering 10-year, 100,000-mile coverage of the engine, transmission and other power train components of its new cars, five-year, 50,000-mile coverage on everything else and five-year unlimited roadside assistance.
“They are re-creating their image,” Tuttle said.
His chain began selling the two brands last week, moving the Tuttle-Click Dodge dealership in Irvine into new quarters in the auto center and turning the former Dodge facility into a Hyundai-Suzuki dealership there.
Tuttle-Click, which traces its roots to a single Los Angeles-area dealership started by Tuttle’s father in 1946, had record total sales of almost $700 million last year with 16 dealerships, nine in the Tucson, Ariz., area and seven in Orange County.
