MIAMI, Florida (CNN) — A newspaper advertisement for a Miami car dealership reads more like a coupon for bags of potato chips: "Buy one, get two!"
It’s estimated that 900 automotive dealerships will have shut their doors by year’s end.
The ad speaks to the desperation of car dealers as Big Three auto manufacturers beg Washington for billions in bailout dollars to combat sales that keep dipping to all-time lows.
"The first thing people think when they come in is, ‘It’s a fake ad. It’s a normal car dealer ad. It’s acheter viagra a gimmick.’ But it’s not," said Ali Ahmed, sales manager at Rob Lambdin’s University Dodge in Miami.
To be fair, there is a catch to the buy-one-get-one-free offer: You must first buy a new Dodge truck at full retail price before you’re eligible to receive a second truck for about $3,000 in tax, tags and dealer fees.
"We’ve been fielding phone calls and e-mail inquiries from every state in the country looking to get this buy-one-get-one deal," Ahmed said.
About 700 dealerships, most of them selling cars from U.S. automakers, have shut their doors since the beginning of the year. The number is expected to hit 900 by year’s end.
Last month, National Automobile Dealers Association chairwoman Annette Sykora told the House Financial Services Committee some 19,700 dealerships will still be around by the end of 2008, compared with 50,000 in the 1940s.
Auto sales are at a 15-year low, she said, which affects more than the Big Three automakers. Dealers are slashing personnel and expenses. Sykora herself has had to cut staff by about 20 percent at her dealerships, she said. iReport.com: Ask the automakers your questions
Sykora, a third-generation car saleswoman who sells Big Three automobiles at dealerships in Slaton and Levelland, Texas, said she recently sat down with the superintendent of Slaton schools.
"We started discussing what would happen if the dealerships in my hometown were to close," she said during her November 19 testimony. "The loss of tax revenue would force them to cut programs and teachers.
Don’t Miss
"Many displaced dealership families might have to leave town in search of work in other places, compounding the loss. This same scene would play out in hundreds of communities in the U.S."
Dealerships, Sykora explained, are independent businesses, not arms of the automakers. They invest in land, equipment, buildings and take out millions of dollars in loans to put the vehicles on their lots and showroom floors.
She also said car dealerships are a prime source of advertising revenue for local media, they support charities and Little League teams and they are integral to the tax base, she said.
"One-fifth of the nation’s retail purchases are automobiles. By getting automotive retailing back on track, Congress can effectively leverage the economic engine of the automobile industry to get this economy running on all cylinders again," she said, pleading with Congress not to let the Big Three file for bankruptcy.
Related posts: Thanksgiving salad recipes, Grant achatz, Far eastern leopard, Half ton mom, Champs sports bowl
Recently:
- Senate bill
- Nate bargatze
- Karpov
- Genius baby
- Christian bale rant video
- Baby monkey eating
- Michael johnson
- Legend of the seeker episode 11
- Taylor vaifanua
- Nkem chukwu and iyke louis udobi
You must be logged in to post a comment.
