SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. — Some days on his way to work, Miles Brandon lingers along the roundabout that takes him from Interstate 5 to the gleaming Mazda dealership he recently built here by the busy Southern California freeway.
"When I come to work in my Miata, I can do an extra lap if traffic is slow," he said. "I've always loved the Mazda brand."
Five years ago, when Brandon had the opportunity to add a Mazda store next to his Volkswagen dealership in San Juan Capistrano, he jumped at the chance, even though it meant building a premium facility to go with Mazda's push to transition to a premium brand.
"When I started thinking about it, I saw the technology Mazda was putting in, the value they were putting in, and then I started hearing some of these rumblings about the direction they were going, and it all sounded good to me."