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Automotive News & Views Dude, where did all the dealerships go?
654 messages, Last post on Nov 23, 2009 at 7:56 PM
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Replying to: fezo (Nov 21, 2008 8:36 am) andre: you sure about those numbers? That sounds awfully high. A 25-mile radius is an area of 1962 square miles, or roughly 40x50. And as a for instance, I would be VERY surprised if Toyota allowed an area that size to have more than 10-12 dealers, even if it were very densely populated. There is only one Cadillac dealership in my county, which also sells about five other brands including Hummer and Hyundai. They WERE making big plans last year for a major expansion of teh Hyundai portion, but those seem to have fizzled out. They are still selling the Hyundais out of a shack on wheels out past the end of the lot for the other brands. it's no wonder they don't sell very many - Hyundai is obviously the redheaded stepchild over there! In the next county over, all of the Buick and GMC dealers have gone in the last 2 years, although one of those dealers continues to sell Cadillac and Mazda and appears to have very recently picked up Pontiac. How about THAT for a mix? Pontiac-Mazda-Cadillac. I think I would rather see bailout money for these dealerships than for the automakers: half of these dealerships are small family businesses and all of them provide other services that they could continue in order to be viable (especially service and repair including manufacturer warranty work). These are local businesses that impact my friends and neighbors and are being strained through no fault of their own. |
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Replying to: nippononly (Nov 21, 2008 9:42 am) Just for the heck of it I checked and there are two Ford dealers within 25 miles of me. If you expand it to 28 miles you get three more including one that's just Lincoln Mercury.
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Replying to: nippononly (Nov 21, 2008 9:42 am) Well, that's what the internet said, and it wouldn't lie, would it?  One thing though, the way these mapping things work, it's 25 miles as the crow flies. For instance, it plotted the dealership I bought my Intrepid from at around 12 miles away. It's more like 16-17. So I'd say that some of these places that the mapping features thought were only 25 miles could really be more like 30 or even 35 to drive them. Still, a 25 mile radius from my zipcode, 20769, basically encompasses my whole county. Also everything within the Washington DC Beltway, which includes parts of Virginia. About half of Baltimore also fell into that swoop. Going into southern Maryland, it just swallows up Waldorf, which I think is the biggest town down there. And going east, it just reaches across the Chesapeake Bay. So I'd imagine there's about 2 million residents, if not more, within the boundaries of that radius. Also, some of them are paired up. For instance, the dealer I bought my Intrepid from also sells Chevies. Interestingly, just a few years ago, a disproportionate amount of their business was Dodge. So now with Chrysler's fallout, I wonder how they're faring? |
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Replying to: fezo (Nov 21, 2008 9:20 am) Even so, there were (in the Baltimore area) four long-standing, new-car dealerships or dealership chains went bust over the past three years. No new Ford/Lincoln/Mercury, Kia, VW, or Suzuki products can be bought in the city. If you're a young 'un in the city who wants a new car, the bus can be taken to the local Toyota (1) or Chevy/Pontiac/Buick/Honda (1) dealer. |
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Replying to: fezo (Nov 21, 2008 9:47 am)  One thing I DO expect to disappear is Lincoln Mercury dealers - I expect they will mostly be consolidated into Ford dealerships. None of the new Lincolns has really hit the sales sweet spot including the very latest ones. Dealers that WANT to consolidate and are not being assisted in doing so by the manufacturer would be another group I think should be eligible for some bailout money, before we hand billions to corporate execs at the automakers.
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General Motors has over 7,000 dealerships for its Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer, Pontiac, and Saturn brands in the U.S. (Saab excluded), while the Ford Motor Company has around 4,400 dealerships. The linked article compares both to Toyota Motor Co. which currently has 1,430 dealerships.
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Replying to: nippononly (Nov 21, 2008 10:00 am) 20 miles isn't far. I would think Toyota likes it that way. Some of the luxury brands aren't even in te county - Lexus, Infiniti, Acura. We used to have BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and Audi franchises up by the Toyota dealer is but they've been gone for years. |
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Replying to: jspagna1 (Nov 21, 2008 10:07 am) |
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The news had a picture of the Port of LA harbor. The lots were full of cars, imported, and they were not moving. It was either NBC or CBS I don't remember which. The did a brief special on the problem. The largest premium foreign car dealer in Orange county just closed. There are more than domestic dealers taking a hit. he OC register said: "At least nine Orange County auto dealers – selling Chevrolets, Chryslers, Dodges, Nissans, Saturns and other brands – have closed since January, brought down by sluggish sales and tight credit." It isn't likely to get better anytime soon and I wouldn't be surprised if more dealerships close. But the used car market should blossom.
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Replying to: boaz47 (Nov 21, 2008 6:16 pm)  Imported vehicles piling up at ports of entry
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