APRIL 2008: AROUND THE STATE
Lithia Motors hit with loss of $5.1 million
MEDFORD
Lithia Motors will slow acquisitions but push on with plans to
build a new headquarters despite reporting a preliminary $5.1
million net loss for the fourth quarter of 2007.
Sid DeBoer, chairman and CEO for the Medford-based auto dealer,
blamed the loss in part on recessionary market conditions and
lower customer counts at most of the company’s 110
stores.
“Since we sell a large ticket to the consumer,
discretionary products that must be financed, we felt the
impact,” he said in the company’s fourth-quarter
conference call. In response, he said the company would cut
personnel, advertising, travel and other costs going
forward.
President and CEO Bryan DeBoer said during the call that
acquisitions would be scaled back, though no specifics were
provided. Last year Lithia Motors added five stores in two
states.
The company will break ground this spring on its $150 million
headquarters in downtown Medford, and Robert Sacks, community
relations director for Lithia, says he knows of no plans to
scale back the development, set to be finished in 2010.
JAMIE HARTFORD
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