Ojai's newest Ford dealer desires Ojai's sense of community
By Jesse Phelps

Ojai Ford has a new sign and a new face.
Meet Mark Johnston, the new owner and in-store manager of the lot. On Aug. 7, a deal was finalized that officially made Johnston and his brother, Ernie, the new co-owners of the former Bronk-Vreeland Ojai Ford.

This isn't the first time the two brothers have partnered. The two have been in cahoots for 23 years and also co-own a high-end resale lot in Los Angeles called Grand Prix Motors, featuring "high-dollar, high-end" specialty cars like Ferraris and Porsches.
Now Ernie, 43, will run Grand Prix while Mark, 42, will live locally and provide the new face of Ojai Ford.

Mark Johnston has a home in Ventura and said he's looking to buy a place in the valley. He said the motivation to purchase Ojai Ford was two-fold: get into new cars and get into a nice community.

Ojai is "a nice, small community, a clean community, a relaxed environment, and a small store - I didn't want a big store, a superstore - I just wanted to eventually move into a nice community like this," he said. "outside of also becoming a new car dealer."

This is the brothers' first new car dealership and Johnston said that so far, so good. "So far it's been very relaxed, very mellow. The people here seem to be very relaxed."

The brothers Johnston have kept the entire staff from the Bronk-Vreeland days and Mark says he's got his eye on improvements. "We're planning on building the business up a little more than what it's doing now."

Those plans include an increase in the advertising profile of the business and doubling the new car inventory. Also, said Johnston, he'll stock "anywhere from 100 to 125 used vehicles so we have something for everybody."

In order to make room for everything, Johnston said he's worked out a deal with the neighboring business, Ojai Spas, to rent a portion of their land. "We are going to be having more used vehicles on this lot," he said. "And you can only hold so many."
Johnston started out as a mechanic and said an additional improvement at Ojai Ford will be the level of service. "I have a very service-oriented background," he said. The service center will only work on Fords, "but we'll be able to sell warranties on all the used cars so you can take it elsewhere or whatever," said Johnston.

Johnston's idea of service extends beyond just the vehicles that need repairs.

"I plan on servicing the community, getting involved with the community, being competitive on the prices, bringing more of an influx of new and used cars in the community," he said. "There's not just Fords in the community, we'll bring an influx of used cars and carry them. You know, imports, like the Boxter - the Porche - there's a BMW, a Mercedes. Those types of cars - low mileage, late model."

In addition to providing choice on the lot, Johnston said he's also planning to be very involved in local activities. Particularly, he said, "Kid's sports, stuff like that, and the schools." The jovial Johnston adds with a laugh, "So all those people looking for donations, they can come over and see me. I'm very kid-oriented."

Johnston, who was born in San Diego and grew up in California, has two girls of his own, Mandy, who attends college, and Mindy, who is in high school.

He said he'd like to "keep the people that live in Ojai spending the money in their community. Instead of them going outside of Ojai and maybe picking up a pre-owned Mercedes or a pre-owned BMW or a pre-owned Lexus, we want to try to service the people of Ojai and hopefully the people of Ojai will keep the money in the community."

One way he wants to try to separate Ojai Ford from the competition is by being available to his clientele. "This dealership's slogan, basically, is going to be 'Where everyone can meet the owner,'" he said.

Johnston is of the opinion that it's far too difficult to talk to the boss when car shopping these days. "It's very hard to get to the general manager, let alone get to the owner," he said. "I'm making myself available to try to meet all the customers so they know who they're dealing with. You know, it's not going to be your typical new car store where you're there for six hours. We're going to make it very relaxed."

He says that, in the interest of keeping the local economy strong, he and his sellers will "try to get the best deal we can from the get-go. We are going to try to take some market share in the Ventura-Oxnard area, which will mean more tax revenue for the city of Ojai, because this is one of the highest sales-tax collectors in the city of Ojai."

He said he's spent enough time in Ojai now to understand some of the needs of the community, and that, in terms of cars, people don't want Fords and Fords alone. "I've driven around and there's a lot of people in this town driving imports, Chevys, this, that, various makes and models," he said. "I plan on basically doubling the business."

"I'm a family man and tend to love this business like a family business," he continues. "I plan to be very involved in the community and I'm hoping the community gets involved with our business. I hope they make us the first stop when they're thinking about buying a vehicle."

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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