Southwest Florida car dealerships were hit hard by COVID-19 repercussions in mid-March and especially early April.
As the country begins to reopen, local sales managers are seeing signs of relief. But their business models have had to innovate with frequent in-store cleanings, a ramp-up of online sales, outside meeting tents and the option of cars being delivered to customers.
And there have been deals galore.
Various manufacturers were offering 84-month, interest-free deals in March on some models and 72 months on others.
Since then, most have cut that interest-free period back to 72 months, depending on the brands and models.
Despite the area-wide deals, new car registrations in Lee and Collier County fell by 29% in March from the prior year. New car registrations for April are not yet available, but dealers are saying the first two weeks of April were even worse than the last two weeks of March.
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The industry reported a 49% drop in sales, year-over-year, from 2019 in April.
“March’s numbers were a little bit skewed, because we got off to a really great start,” said Mike Spinazze, general manager of Sutherlin Nissan of Fort Myers and Cape Coral. “It was a learning curve. Mid-March was when everything just kind of hit us. Every day was different.
“April was rough. And it started to pick up at the end as Florida started opening with Phase 1. Showroom traffic has definitely picked up.”
Speaking mid-afternoon Saturday, Spinazze said his Fort Myers dealership had sold 11 cars so far that day.
“People are out and about,” Spinazze said. “People who come into the showrooms, they’re ready to buy. We always put the safety of our customers first. Some days, people would show up and we’d sell 15 cars. Some days, nobody would show up. I think when customers show up and see you’re looking out for your safety, they decide, maybe they want to do business with you.”
In May, sales in Southwest Florida have been better.
“Our business seems to be rebounding from last month on the vehicle sale side,” said Robert Galloway, president of Galloway Ford, the region’s longest-running car dealership. “Service, parts and the collision center are also maintaining. We seem to be leveling off and are starting to rebound. Hopefully that trend continues as the state continues to open back up.”
Cape Coral Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram managing owner Jay Ganzi said his year-over-year sales were up by 7% in March, bucking the area’s trend. But his service calls plunged by about 40%.
“I will say this, for me as a business owner, we’re pretty honored we did not have to lay anybody off,” Ganzi said. “And nobody in our dealership has gotten sick during this whole thing. I’m pretty happy about that.”
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Car manufacturing plants did not reopen until Monday, which has Ganzi and other general managers concerned over the supply of new cars in the coming months.
“Being that the factories weren’t building cars, we can’t replenish our current inventory,” Ganzi said. “Sixty days from now, there will be a new car shortage for all dealerships. All inventories. All the domestics, at least. Everybody’s eventually going to run out of cars, because they weren’t making any more.”
One place that has bucked all the Southwest Florida trends of declining sales: LaBelle of Hendry County, which saw a year-over-year March increase of new car registrations from 91 to 103.
Doug Plattner, who owns the 11 dealerships that comprise Plattner Automotive Group, said he sold 58 cars in April at his LaBelle Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealership, about double what he did in April 2019.
Entering the week of May 18, Hendry County had 222 reported cases of COVID-19 compared to 1,433 in Lee and 933 in Collier.
“Our infections are very, very limited in smaller areas and smaller counties,” Plattner said. “And I think people are returning to shop more now. Some people don’t mind coming out to the country versus the city.”
Buying a car amid COVID-19: What to expect
- More online shopping. Customers who arrive to a store tend to know ahead of time what they want to buy.
- Social distancing in the store. Most dealerships are advising sales personnel not to offer handshakes. Chairs in waiting area are roped off to encourage customers distancing from one another.
- Deals with financial packages. Some brands are offering 72-month and in some cases, 84-month interest-free financing packages and between 90 and 120 days of deferred payments.
- Supply shortages in the short-term. The domestic car manufacturers shut down making cars and just got back to work May 18. This could cause some near-term shortages of certain makes and models.
Connect with this reporter: David Dorsey (Facebook), @DavidADorsey (Twitter).
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May 28, 2020 at 05:11PM
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Southwest Florida dealers contend with severe April sales drop, COVID-19-related fallout - News-Press
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