Acura 101 West has become a vacant car lot, but Calabasas officials believe another dealer will take over the space. The luxury dealership closed for business Nov. 30. A representative of owner Sonic Automotive Inc. declined to discuss the reason for the shutdown. Sonic, a publicly traded company with headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., also owns Mercedes-Benz of Calabasas, located on Calabasas Road less than a mile from the closed Acura franchise. Bridget Karl, chief executive of the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce, said she was told second-hand the dealership closed due to performance issues. “It was a decision by Sonic based on sales and performance,” Karl said. Acura 101 West was originally going to close at the end of October, a date that was later changed to late December, added Karl, who owns an Acura and took her car for service to the dealership. Some of the staff from Acura 101 West went to Honda of Santa Monica, which is also owned by Sonic, she said. “Anytime a large dealer leaves it affects a city’s economy,” Karl said. “It is great sales tax revenue. As long as they bring in another dealership, the city should be fine.” Karl did not know if Sonic owned or leased the Acura 101 West building and Maureen Tamuri, community development director for Calabasas, said there was no record of the building recently being sold. “The city anticipates that due to the customized nature of the building that another car dealer will occupy it,” Tamuri said in an email to the Business Journal. Bob Smith, executive director of the Greater Los Angeles New Car Dealers Association, said that 2015 was a strong year for car sales. Still, there are many reasons why a dealership would close its doors. He noted that the lot of the Acura 101 West property just off the 101 freeway is a prime location for car sales. “The next owner with the next franchise will do really well,” Smith said. Acura is the luxury car division of Honda Motor Car Ltd. in Tokyo; it debuted in the United States in 1986. Its market share in California stood at 1.3 percent through September, according to the California New Car Dealers Association. Through the third quarter of last year, there were 20,758 new Acura registrations, an increase of 18.3 percent from the 17,549 registrations in the same period in 2014, according to data from the association. The Acura ILX was the fifth-best-selling entry luxury vehicle, with 2,797 registrations in the first nine months of last year. The nearest Acura dealerships to Calabasas are now at the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall and in Sherman Oaks.