Edward Lapham
Automotive News -- April 5, 2010 - 12:01 am ET
The March sales numbers made a lot of people in the industry feel pretty darned good last week.
But the nagging unemployment numbers, unenthusiastic consumer spending levels and lack of a strong economic recovery -- plus my razor-sharp skepticism and decades of experience observing sales cycles -- made me doubt that the March sales uptick was the start of a genuine recovery.
So I called an expert -- a salesman for a General Motors dealership. I have known him for years and trust him to give me an unvarnished view of life on the front line selling automobiles.
I asked him, "Are things back to normal?"
The salesman started out by telling me what a great month he'd had. The best month in a long time, he said, reminding me what a good, customer-friendly salesman he is.
But are things back to normal?
Things are better, he said, but not the best they've ever been.
Then he started grumbling. He still can't believe that GM is phasing out the Lucerne. "Do they really want to do without a big Buick?'' he asked, not really expecting an answer.
Are things back to normal? No -- and yes
"We haven't been able to order one for three months," he said, his voice getting louder in the receiver. "You ought to call around and see who has Lucernes. I'll bet nobody does."
Then we drifted to another familiar topic: incentives.
My salesman friend admits that he is befuddled by GM's retail and wholesale incentives, which he says are confusing and counterproductive and make it too difficult to sell cars. He told me he spent several hours last week trying to unravel which incentives a customer was entitled to receive, in the end explaining to her that another dealer was wrong.
Then he marveled at Toyota's incentive pricing. "You call, and they say, 'Here's the price, what color do you want?'" he said. "That's how you sell cars."
Before we hung up we agreed that in some ways, things are back to normal.
Read more:
Automotive News -- April 5, 2010 - 12:01 am ET
The March sales numbers made a lot of people in the industry feel pretty darned good last week.
But the nagging unemployment numbers, unenthusiastic consumer spending levels and lack of a strong economic recovery -- plus my razor-sharp skepticism and decades of experience observing sales cycles -- made me doubt that the March sales uptick was the start of a genuine recovery.
So I called an expert -- a salesman for a General Motors dealership. I have known him for years and trust him to give me an unvarnished view of life on the front line selling automobiles.
I asked him, "Are things back to normal?"
The salesman started out by telling me what a great month he'd had. The best month in a long time, he said, reminding me what a good, customer-friendly salesman he is.
But are things back to normal?
Things are better, he said, but not the best they've ever been.
Then he started grumbling. He still can't believe that GM is phasing out the Lucerne. "Do they really want to do without a big Buick?'' he asked, not really expecting an answer.
Are things back to normal? No -- and yes
"We haven't been able to order one for three months," he said, his voice getting louder in the receiver. "You ought to call around and see who has Lucernes. I'll bet nobody does."
Then we drifted to another familiar topic: incentives.
My salesman friend admits that he is befuddled by GM's retail and wholesale incentives, which he says are confusing and counterproductive and make it too difficult to sell cars. He told me he spent several hours last week trying to unravel which incentives a customer was entitled to receive, in the end explaining to her that another dealer was wrong.
Then he marveled at Toyota's incentive pricing. "You call, and they say, 'Here's the price, what color do you want?'" he said. "That's how you sell cars."
Before we hung up we agreed that in some ways, things are back to normal.
Read more:
P.S. Are you 'Advertising' or 'Marketing' ?
Ask me the Difference?
