Dealerships

The rhetoric relative to the Santa Monica Auto Mall during the last few weeks has been enlightening. The concept of locating dealerships in an "auto park" is gaining favor in many communities. Typically, a city provides inexpensive land to attract the following dealerships: (1) those located within the city limits; (2) those from other areas, and (3) new agencies. Obviously, the latter two are the most attractive to the city as the opportunity for increased sales tax revenues is greatly enhanced.

Closures of new-car dealerships may rise as much as 40% this year as slumping sales and surging borrowing costs cut into profits, the National Automobile Dealers Assn. said. As many as 600 may shut down or consolidate with other dealers, equal to about 3% of the total, said Paul Taylor, an economist at the McLean, Va.-based group. That compares with 430 a year ago. Dealers for the big U.S. carmakers -- General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler -- will probably account for the bulk of the closings, Taylor said.

Honda and Ford are expanding the reach of their green car offerings to U.S. consumers. Honda's 2013 Honda Fit EV, the electric vehicle first launched in California and Oregon in July 2012, will be added to select East Coast dealerships in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New York and New Jersey. Customers will be able to lease the Fit EV, which has an EPA estimated range of 82 miles, for three years at a cost of $389 per month. "Expanding the availability of the ultra-efficient Fit EV to the East Coast is the next logical step in Honda's strategic and customer-focused approach to growing the market for low-CO2, sustainable mobility technologies," said Steve Center, vice president of the American Honda Environmental Business Development Office.

The process for car owners who want to install an air bag switch, according to the government: * Starting Dec. 18, motorists can get a request form from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and at some dealerships, repair shops and state motor vehicle offices. The NHTSA has both a hotline, (800) 242-9393, and a Web site (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov) for more information. * Motorists will be required to read a brochure about air bags.

Re "Industry suffers a glut of car lots," April 13 Forgive me for not shedding any tears over the loss of America's local car dealerships. The car I buy is a manufactured product, but the process of buying that car is a throwback to the days of haggling over goats in the bazaar. Few car buyers leave the lot with a good feeling about the experience. I still cringe thinking about my last test drive with a salesman -- a heavy smoker -- stinking up the new car I was about to buy with his tobacco-tinged breath and clothing.

"Drive out in a better car than you paid for," the sales brochures say, and that's the strategy Hyundai Motor America, a Garden Grove subsidiary of the giant Hyundai Motor Co. in Korea, is banking on to carve out a piece of the American subcompact car market. In 13 days of sales, the company has sold 588 of its Excel subcompacts--with a starting price of $4,995--at 75 dealerships scattered over 31 states. By the end of February, 2,053 cars had been wholesaled to dealers.

Re "Closed doors on Crenshaw," Opinion, Jan. 31 In 1960, I was driving past O'Connor Lincoln-Mercury on Crenshaw Boulevard when I saw a white Mercury convertible on its showroom floor that captured my attention. I went in and bought that car from Edris Aubry, the uncle of Erin Aubry Kaplan, who notes in her column the demise of new-car dealerships and upscale shopping in the Crenshaw area. I would add that many fine restaurants have also disappeared. I am sorry to see that Crenshaw Motors Ford has finally closed its doors, but I don't believe these businesses represented, as Kaplan states, a "great social and retail experiment that failed."

Supporters of green-car technology like hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric cars say they were happy to hear that automakers like Ford and Honda are expanding the number of dealerships who can sell those cars. Honda's 2013 Honda Fit EV, launched in California and Oregon in July, will be added to dealerships in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New York and New Jersey. Ford Motor Co. is accelerating dealership certification for its plug-in electrified vehicles from 200 to 900 dealers.

From the standpoint of economic impact, the James Risen article "German Car Makers Will Honk for Joy" (May 28) makes no sense. In commenting most specifically how BMW will benefit by the tariffs charged on luxury Japanese cars, he comes out against the action but never explains what is wrong with a limited trade war. He also assumes this action will increase business for the German car makers but not the U.S. car makers. How can he make that assumption? Japan cannot afford a trade war with the United States.

Gary Grossinger was showing a visiting Toyota executive around his cavernous new $37-million "autoplex" this year when, somewhere between the first-floor manicurist and the 100,000-square-foot rooftop parking lot, the slack-jawed executive shot off a question. "You know the economy just blew up, don't you?" the executive asked. Grossinger laughed. "Aren't you supposed to be encouraging me?" he replied. These days, Grossinger needs all the encouragement he can get. On Aug. 31, amid a crippling auto industry crisis, the 43-year-old, third-generation auto salesman opened the doors on one of the biggest dealerships in the Midwest.