The economic downturn has claimed yet another Sacramento-area auto dealership.
The locally based Maita Automotive Group on Monday closed Maita Ford Mercury at 1650 Grass Valley Highway in Auburn. More than 40 employees lost their jobs. About 50 vehicles will be returned to Ford Motor Co.
"This is a very difficult time for our employees. Many of them are long-term employees who live in this area," said Gary Kiser, director of operations for the Maita group. "The bottom line is that, with sluggish car sales and the slowing economy, it didn't make economic sense for us to stay open."
Maita Automotive Group continues to sell Chevrolet, Hyundai, Nissan, Scion, Subaru and Toyota brands at dealerships in Sacramento and Elk Grove.
Maita Ford Mercury joins nearby Auburn Nissan in closing. Michael Barbieri, owner and manager of Auburn Nissan, at 536 Grass Valley Highway, cited financial difficulties when he shut April 24, with 14 people losing their jobs.
Dealership woes extended beyond the immediate Sacramento area over the weekend.
On Sunday, Lithia Dodge of Fairfield closed down. Lithia Motors Inc., based in Medford, Ore., declined to elaborate Monday, other than confirming that the dealership in the Fairfield Auto Mall was no longer operating.
Other recent dealership closings include Paul Blanco Chevrolet at 3815 Florin Road; new-car sales operations at Senator Ford, 3801 Florin Road (Senator Mazda, general used car sales, rental-car operations and a body shop continue on the Senator site); and Winter Volvo Lincoln Mercury at 3805 Florin Road.
Great Valley Chrysler Jeep Mazda Isuzu on Fulton Avenue in Sacramento and Elk Grove Ford in the Elk Grove Auto Mall also have shut.
Call The Bee's Mark Glover, (916) 321-1184.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.