Porsche, Ford dealerships find Beltway homes

Longtime Las Vegas automobile dealers Cliff Findlay and Gary Ackerman are already good friends and next-door neighbors at Anthem Country Club. Now they're going to be business neighbors along the Beltway in southwest Las Vegas Valley.

Gaudin Ford plans to open a new dealership at the Beltway and Rainbow Boulevard in February, next to Findlay Chevrolet, Ackerman said Wednesday. A new Gaudin Porsche dealership is to follow within 36 months.

Ackerman is in escrow to buy the closed Integrity Chrysler dealership for an undisclosed price, even though he already owns 20 acres in the area once planned for an auto mall.

The 12-acre site has an 86,000-square-foot showroom, Beltway frontage, a 25-lift service bay and a body shop. The deal also includes a vacant 5-acre parcel to be developed as the Porsche dealership, Ackerman said.

The title to the land has some issues with liens that need to be cleared with owner Tom Saitta, who has sold both his dealerships in Las Vegas and now operates a Chrysler dealership in Pahrump.

Ackerman said he didn't want to move until his 35-year lease expired at Gaudin Ford's current location on East Sahara Avenue.

The Porsche dealership is farther down the road, he said. Porsche wants the showroom to be closer to the Beltway than the boundary allows, so Ackerman is working with Clark County to adjoin the parcels.

Ackerman said he's got real estate "coming out of my ears," and didn't really want to buy the additional 5 acres, but rather than risk someone buying the land for a tavern or some other non-automotive use, he agreed to take it.

"We'd been talking to Porsche, and their sales are up 20 percent in Las Vegas," Ackerman said. "Part of it was Porsche's growth that we see down the road, and part of it was to structure the deal with Tom. He has trust with me, and I have trust with him."

Gaudin's Jaguar-Porsche store on west Sahara Avenue introduced the Fisker Automotive brand to Las Vegas on Tuesday and will become a Jaguar-Fisker dealership when the Porsche store opens.

Fisker Automotive is an American premium plug-in hybrid electric vehicle manufacturer with a mission to "redefine the luxury automobile with an unwavering dedication to sustainability," according to the company's website.

The drop in new car and truck sales during the recession led to a rash of dealership closings in Las Vegas, including Bill Heard Chevrolet, Planet Hyundai, United Jeep Chrysler and several Desert Auto brand stores.

In June, luxury used-car dealer Norm Baker Motor Co. shut down after more than 30 years in business in Las Vegas, losing an inventory of about 60 cars valued at $30 million to the bank.

The Nevada Franchised Auto Dealers Association reported 115,000 new and used vehicle sales in 2010, up 8.7 percent over the prior year, but about half the peak volume of 227,000 in 2007.

New car and truck sales nationwide fell to 10 million in 2008, and are projected to rebound to nearly 13 million this year.

Randy Block, sales and leasing manager at Friendly Ford in Las Vegas, said sales have been increasing steadily over the past 18 months and now average about 180 a month.

"It's not the market it used to be, but it's definitely a strong and steady market," Block said. "It's survival of the fittest. What you're seeing now the very strongest dealers that have survived."

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.