AutoNation Closing

Re “AutoNation Store Shuts, Surprising Oxnard Officials,” Dec. 14.

Hmm . . . Let’s see if I understand this. AutoNation apparently could not afford a dime to call the city of Oxnard before it left town. Yet the same week, the company could afford to take out a full-page ad in two local newspapers to compliment itself on its astute business sense.

It appears AutoNation, like many businesses today, is more concerned about its shareholders than its employees or customers. It was unfortunate enough that Oxnard needed this eyesore along the Ventura Freeway to bring in necessary tax dollars. Now the city has the eyesore without the benefit of the tax gain.

To Oxnard: I wish you success in finding a replacement business. To the former employees of AutoNation: May your new year start off better then this one is ending.

JOHN S. JONES

Ventura

*

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Earlier this year, I visited AutoNation in Oxnard. Its used Ford F-150 trucks were priced higher than new ones elsewhere.

Volume is the answer, not high prices. Most of these vehicles probably came from rental fleets, which already paid a lot of money for them. If AutoNation had sold them for less, it could have sold in volume and made a lot of money.

It is not the salesmen’s fault that AutoNation closed. It is the big bosses who can’t see beyond their noses.

I have been in a similar business in Oxnard for many years, and I still am. When I heard that AutoNation was coming to Oxnard, I thought it would be a giant killer. Instead it became a stranded whale on the beaches of Oxnard.

NOVIE A. SJOBECK

Ojai