The closure came about from an offer by Ford Motor Co., which is seeking to consolidate the number of dealer locations, Friend said.  The owner of Ford West also was an owner at South Bay Ford, which allowed a successful merging of the two operations; the Ford West Store closed at Christmas and reopened in the new year, he said.  The dealership celebrated the move with a customer appreciation day on May 28.

Because Ford West had built up a very strong fleet and truck service business and a sizable wholesale parts operation, the decision was made to move those businesses to a stand-alone location in Hawthorne and connect them with nearby South Bay Ford, Friend said.

The resulting Fleet and Truck Center, opened in a previous dealership location has 60 service bays, he said, eclipsing the 32 that served fleet and truck customers at Ford West.  The number of technicians has grown from 14 before to 20, he said, and the location also has much better parking for trucks than at either of the retail stores.

"By opening up this facility in combination with South bay Ford, it has given us a strong mix," Friend said.  More than 70 percent of the company's fleet customers moved their business to the new facility, he said, and sales have grown 25 to 30 percent over the past six months. 

"It's really a testament to our service advisers and their relationships with their customers," he said.  "Your advisers are everything in this business, and they don't get any better than Michelle and Nick." 

By moving the fleet business that South Bay Ford was doing to the Fleet and Truck Center, it has also opened up more capacity at the dealership for additional service sales, Friend said.

The parts departments have also benefited, said Fleet and Truck Center Parts Manager Paul Gipple.  All of Ford West's mechanical parts were transferred to the Fleet and Truck Center, he said, while the collision repair parts were transferred to South Bay Ford.  The result is a combined inventory of more than $1.8 million, he said. 

Even though collision customers were transferred to South Bay Ford, Gipple said he believes his wholesale business from the Fleet and Truck Center has increased 10 to 15 percent. "A lot of our wholesale customers remained with us, and we've been able to pick up some new ones," he said.  "There is a ton of fleet business in the area that wasn't being served before."

Gipple said the parts department regularly delivers from Irvine to Santa Monica and from the coast to Whittier.  The department is revising its inventory as business grows, he said, and has already increased its inventory of powertrain units to more than 60.  "I would say that we are probably in the top five in SKUs of all of the Ford dealers in the state," he said. 

  
"We have less competition over here," Friend said, noting that a very large independent fleet and truck parts and service business was located just east of Ford West.  "We are also much closer to the airport and a lot of other industry in this area, which we believe has been underserved."

Friend said he believes there is still plenty of room for the Fleet and Truck Center to grow.  "I'd say that we are at about 50 percent capacity right now.  I think we can do about 5,000 hours a month out of this location."