Daily Auto News Are Auto Sales Rebounding?
Daily Auto News
As both General Motors and Chrysler submitted restructuring plans to the government yesterday outlining their efforts to shrink to become competitive, auto sales appeared to be rebounding slightly.
The Boston Globe reports, “Auto dealers around Greater Boston yesterday reported solid results for Presidents’ Day holiday sales, a traditional make-or-break weekend for sellers, because of customers who decided the deals being offered outweighed worries about the future.”
Sales figures for February won’t be released until early March, so any signs of progress at this point are simply anecdotal.
Jim Xaros, vice president of Herb Chambers Cos., a network of 45 New England dealerships, told the Globe that “total sales for February were down just 5 percent compared with a year ago, much better than January, when sales were 19 percent lower than in that month last year.” Meanwhile, “Ray Ciccolo, owner of the seven-dealership Village Automotive Group, estimated his Presidents’ Day weekend sales were 10 percent higher this year, as compared with last year.” And “Michael Quirk, general sales manager for the 10-dealership chain owned by his brother Daniel Quirk, said his Volkswagen dealership had sold 30 cars by midday yesterday, compared with about 23 at the same point in Presidents’ Day weekend in 2008.”
Kicking Tires cautioned, “The sales spike is likely a result of the deep discounts dealerships are offering to move cars off the lots. The Dodge dealer was selling a Caravan minivan for $9,000 less than its list price. A Boston-area Lexus dealer offered one customer a $51,000 luxury hybrid SUV for $31,000 after the trade-in.” An increase in sales numbers is not the same as an increase in profit.
However, the news could be a sign that low prices and heavy incentives are actually beginning to lure car shoppers back onto new car lots. Automakers are discounting cars heavily in February – and, with massive new requests for a federal bailout dominating the news, we can’t predict whether the same will be true in March.
Research February’s best car deals with U.S. News’ car rankings and reviews.
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