Long-time Fletcher Jones executive retires

After more than 30 years in the automotive business, Tom Downer is still passionate about cars and car sales.

For the retiring Fletcher Jones Management Group chief operating officer, who started with the company in 1977, a recent tour of the subterranean, climate-controlled showroom at Fletcher Jones Mercedes on West Sahara Avenue revealed Downer's loyalty, passion and pride and why he has been a corporate executive with the company since 1997.

"In the last year and a half, we have learned running a business is just as important as selling and fixing cars," said Downer, who's helped oversee the Fletcher Jones family of dealerships, which will soon expand to 17 with the addition of Fletcher Jones Toyota in the Valley Automall and Fletcher Jones Mercedes in Maui, Hawaii. "To be successful, you've got to follow your business plan."

Downer studied business at Merced College and Riverside Community College in California and also served six years in the Air Force Reserves at March Air Force Base, near Riverside, Calif.

Since then, economics have been the backbone of Downer's career. He was lured, however, by the car industry and took a position in sales at the former Fletcher Jones Chevrolet on South Decatur Boulevard. "I thought the car business would be a better fit and it turned out to be a pretty good choice," Downer said.

Through the years, he was promoted to finance and insurance manager, then director and eventually assigned to the Fletcher Jones Management Group as finance director. Downer has served as the group's chief operating officer for 12 years.

There were certainly challenges along the way, Downer admits. "We expanded rather rapidly in the 1980s to about 18 dealerships and today employ 2,200 people. One challenge was putting out consistent policies and procedures for the finance and insurance departments," he explained.

That meant a lot of Fletcher Jones dealership training sessions for Downer, who often traveled to Southern and Northern California, as well as Northern Nevada, Hawaii and Chicago for business.

Downer had originally planned to retire next year, but he and his wife of 38 years, Carol, both love to travel and have recently purchased a vacation home in Dana Point, Calif., that overlooks the bay. Downer is even thinking about a boat to supplement the time in between golf games. When the couple travels, they head to New York City for the Broadway shows and New York Yankee baseball games.

"With the economy the way it is, we just thought this was the best time as ever," Downer said.

The Fletcher Jones Management Group oversees the 16th largest automotive retailer in the U.S., the first opening in Los Angeles in 1954. Its Las Vegas corporate offices are located at the 225,000-square-foot Fletcher Jones Mercedes location at 7300 W. Sahara Ave.