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Hertz brings its cars to Medford Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Construction on a new Hertz Car Sales lot is under way at Coker Butte Road and Crater Lake Avenue. The building on the left will house the service department and the larger sloped-roof building will be the showroom. The lot is expected to open in June, selling a wide variety of late-model former rental vehicles from Hertz� fleet. By SHARI DOWNHILL Hertz Car Sales is moving to Medford and will open its fourth Northwest used-car sales center by June. Currently under construction on the corner of Crater Lake Avenue and Coker Butte Road, the new Hertz Car Sales center will be the fourth location in Central Washington and Central Oregon for Hertz franchisee West One Automotive Group, said George Burnside, West One�s chief executive officer. The location will include a 9,000-square-foot sales building and a 3,300-square-foot service and rental center, both situated on a four-acre corner site. The design of Hertz�s new Medford sales building has been borrowed from the company�s architectural award-winning Bend location, Burnside said. Designed by Mackenzie & Dowd Architects of Portland, the Hertz design will be built around a two-story sales/display space with a glass wall facing Crater Lake Avenue and Highway 62. The building design was important, Burnside said, because company managers wanted the Hertz Car Sales facility to present a more "up-scale, professional and sophisticated" spirit. West One Automotive Group received the franchise operating rights in February 2000 for the Medford and Salem markets. "We currently have Hertz Car Sales facilities in Yakima and the Tri-Cities area (in Washington) and Bend," Burnside said. In addition to Hertz Car Sales locations, West One also operates car rental stores at the Medford and Salem airports, in Klamath Falls, Sun River, Redmond, and Pendleton; and Walla Walla, the Tri-Cities, Yakima and Wenatchee in Washington. Hertz vehicles sales and rental locations are approximately 85 percent corporate-owned, Burnside said, with about 15 percent awarded to private franchisees. West One chose to move into Medford based on the company�s own market survey and the belief that Rogue Valley car buyers would be attracted to the kinds of "almost new" vehicles Hertz offers, Burnside said. "We like what we see in Medford," he said. "People here like current-model cars, trucks and SUVs. We think we offer an excellent choice and an excellent alternative to (new vehicles). Why buy new when you can buy just like new and save lots of money?" Lease returns, factory demonstration vehicles and former rental cars will comprise Hertz�s offerings, which will include a wide variety of brand names in luxury to economy cars, trucks and vans. Initially, Burnside said the Hertz location will bring in about 220 vehicles by June and adjust the number based on sales. "We just need to learn the Medford market, the seasonality," he said. Medford�s Hertz Car Sales will be overseen by general manager Eric Freeman and financial manager Bob Glass, both transferring from Yakima, Wash. The company will likely employ 25 additional employees. West One Automotive Group�s presence in vehicle sales is dominated by Hertz Car Sales locations in the Pacific Northwest. The mostly manager-owned company has been doing business for 21 years. "People here work hard for their money, and they want quality and good service for their money," Burnside said. "We think Hertz is an answer to that." Reach reporter Shari Downhill at 776-4463, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.