SAN ANTONIO – Even as April appears to be the worst month for new car sales in 30 years in the U.S., local dealers shifted gears and buckled up to keep on selling throughout the bumpy ride.
“March was off. March was off,” said Marc Cross, general manager at Jordan Ford.
But April, he said, “was not that horrible.”
Used car sales were down about 25% last month, but Cross said new car, truck and SUV sales were actually a bit better than a year ago.
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“First, we were deemed an essential business,” he said. “I have dealer friends across the country shut down.”
Like other Texas dealers, his showroom was allowed to open for business. Only now, it includes face masks for employees and customers, distancing markers and half shifts. He said he’s not had to lay off any of his 240 employees, and he is grateful for that.
It’s not exactly business as usual, though. They’ve shifts gears to online for most customers.
“It’s still hard to buy a car and have the guts to click the button like you’re buying a sweater on Amazon or something,” he said. After all, a car is a high-dollar commitment.
Test drives include plastic covers, face covers and disinfectants, but are often skipped.
Texas appears to be a different picture than much of the country where COVID-19 wrecked car sales in March and April across all brands.
Figures released Friday showed Toyota’s U.S. sales tanked by more than 55% in April compared to the same time last year. Mazda was down more than 44%. Hyundai fared better as its sales dropped by more than 38%.
Some analysts were encouraged, however, that some brands showed upticks in sales in the last days of April heading into May.
As for the road ahead, Cross sees better days this summer.
“There’s a lot of pent-up demand,” he said.
For consumers in the market for a new car, there are plenty of incentives such as zero percent financing over 84 months. And, there seems to be plenty of unsold inventory dealers will need to move.