After sales bottomed out, Windsor-Essex car sellers worry about lack of inventory

Veteran car salespeople say this spring has been the worst period of their careers, by far. And they worry they won't see sales resume quickly if auto manufacturers can't amp up production.

Rick McKinney, senior sales consultant at Motor City Chrysler in Windsor, and Greg Gill, director of sales for the Rafih Auto Group, say now that people are able to come back to the dealerships they need vehicles to sell.

"My biggest fear — and I think everybody will say the same thing — is product. We haven't had a shipment in three months now," said Gill. 

"I have lots of orders but I need them to get back to work and start building or we're going to have some problems."

Car manufacturers including FCA Canada and Ford brought workers back to their factory assembly lines last week but it may take some time before vehicles hit the dealerships.

The only problem we're going to have now is inventory because they've stopped making them,- Greg Gill, director of sales,  Rafih Auto Group

Incentives offered to car buyers are excellent right now said McKinney, but he also worries about product. 

"The Grand Caravan was supposed to come back in May, but could be another three months," he said. 

'Worst' sales ever

Both of their dealerships have seen the slowest sales that either of them can remember, said Gill and McKinney. 

For March, sales were down 45 per cent and sunk lower to 75 per cent in April, said McKinney. 

"Are we going to gain that back immediately? Absolutely not. It's going to be a slow process," he said. "This is worse now [than the 2008 recession]. I would double this numbers-wise. We just don't see those people. At least in 2008 there were people walking through the door but not now."

"When [COVID-19] first came out we got blasted but in the short term now we're up quite a bit," said Gill. "The only problem we're going to have now is inventory because they've stopped making them."

All car dealerships across Ontario were limited to online sales only during the height of pandemic restrictions. As of May 5, dealerships were able to see customers again, by appointment only. As of May 19, under the provincial government's reopening framework, customers were allowed back in the showrooms. But numbers are limited, according to the square footage of the car showroom, to allow for 2-metre physical distancing.

"Once we did the sale online we'd place it in their driveway and we did all the paperwork online," said Gill. "It was a challenge there's no doubt about it but we'll survive."

McKinney said that even though many people are back to work, he doesn't believe they'll see an "onslaught" of new customers. 

Both salespeople say that the pandemic has completely changed the way they sell cars

"You can't shake hands ... It's how you treat a customer as soon as they walk into the door," said McKinney. "We're all in the same boat. Things are not going to be the same, they're just not going to be."

"It's just a whole different way to approach the customer with this distancing," said Gill.