Bank of America Closes Four Price Auto Outlets

Bank of America Corp. has closed four Price Auto Outlet dealerships, including one in Anaheim, after losing money in its auto-leasing business, the American Banker reported.

The bank also shut down its Price Auto Outlet dealerships in Linden, N.J., and Orlando, Fla., last week after failing to find buyers. Last month, it closed its Bethpage, N.Y., outlet, the paper said.

Bank of America took $455 million of charges on its auto-leasing business last year as used car prices fell, reducing the amount the bank got by selling them at the end of the lease. The bank, which has about 550,000 auto leases, will sell all its vehicles through auctions, as most banks do, the paper said.

The bank will also close a lease-operations center in Melville, N.Y., its auto-auction operation in Greensboro, N.C., and its online used-car site, priceautooutlet.com, the paper said. Three other lease operations centers will remain open.