LV dealerships taking ‘Desert’ name

Monday, Feb. 26, 2001 | 11:17 a.m.

AutoNation, which owns 11 Las Vegas-area car dealerships with 17 franchises, is sub-branding locally with the "Desert" name.

The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based retailer, which has more than 400 vehicle franchises in 26 metropolitan markets in 21 states, is gradually implementing the Desert name, developed in 1973 by the owners of Desert GMC, one of the companies AutoNation acquired.

As part of the campaign, the Desert dealerships will adopt a common template for signs, uniforms and printed material and will use the theme in newspaper, television and radio advertising.

Prior to the Desert branding, the dealers operated under the names they had before they were acquired by AutoNation and its predecessor, Republic Industries Inc. Republic took on the AutoNation name in April 1999.

Bob McDonald, senior vp of marketing and advertising for Desert Auto Group, said the branding project is expected to be completed by June 1.

Dealerships under the Desert umbrella include Desert Buick GMC, Desert Lincoln Mercury, Desert Pontiac-GMC, Desert Honda, Desert Chrysler Jeep, Desert Volkswagen/Audi, Desert Dodge, Desert Toyota, Desert Nissan, Desert BMW of Las Vegas and Desert BMW of Henderson.

archive