Omni Automotive Advertising Blog

With Halloween just around the corner it seems appropriate that we be scared of something. Ghosts, Goblins, Vampires, Werewolves and more abound at this time of year, popping up to send a chill down your spine. But it’s not the creepy monsters and such that are scaring us this year. This year the big monster is the economy, or the blog that’s eating up auto dealerships across the globe. That’s right! The scariest thing you could imagine is no longer hiding in the shadows.

You don’t have to live in a cave to know what’s going on. Every day there is another news story about rising costs, dealerships shutting their doors and closing up shop. On Oct 21, AOL reported “Credit Crisis a ‘Catastrophe’ for Auto Sales“. No new news here. Dealerships that use to make money hand over foot are now reporting significant, up to 30%, losses in sales during the last month.

Almost 600 of the about 20,000 U.S. new car dealers have shut their doors this year, and an additional 2,000 will close within 18 months, predicts Mark Johnson, president of a Seattle consulting firm that helps auto dealers buy, sell or merge operations.

While some dealerships have closed due to poor management, others are simply the victim of the slowing economy. With rising costs and less disposable cash, consumers are tightening their belts, hesitating to buy high cost purchases like houses, boats and cars. A article on Yahoo.com reports states that “Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the economy.” The article also goes on to state “layoffs this week include Chrysler LLC, which said Thursday that it would eliminate 1,825 jobs by cutting a shift at a Toledo, Ohio Jeep plant and accelerating the closure of a sport utility vehicle factory in Newark, Del.”

Scared yet? Maybe that is a good thing. Fear can be a great motivator. Don’t let fear immoblise you. Take action. While consumers may delay buying a car, people need cars and they will continue to buy cars. The automakers, knowing that the consumer need those cars but are no longer willing to buy the big gas guzzlers, have seen the light and making more energy efficient models.

And although the news has predicted the demise of some dealerships, others will survive. To survive they must fight. Dealerships must motivate themselves, educate thier salesteams, reassess their priorities. Here at Omni we are taking great strides to recognize the trends. If you’re dealership is faced with lagging sales, give us a call. Omni Advertising knows the automotive world. We know what works and we can help you strengthen your automotive sales during this uncertain time. Don’t be scared! Call us.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 9:56 am and is filed under Automotive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.