LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. — It's been a mixed bag for Bob Sight Ford in Lee's Summit since the start of the pandemic.
"Sales, new and used cars, was off 10%, better than expected. Sales and body shop was off 35% in revenue," general manager Zachary Sight said.
41 Action News spoke with other car dealers in the Kansas City metro that are reporting anywhere from a 40-50% decline in revenue over the last two months. The auto industry as a whole is feeling the pinch.
"We’ve reached out to a lot of dealers. We’re a close network of comrades," Bob Sight Ford dealership manager Brian Sight said. "We’re seeing a wide range of feelings and views of which way this goes."
Those present-day concerns run parallel to future uncertainty for the industry.
"The concern will be in 60 days, is what is our inventory at? Ford isn’t producing, the plants are closed, they’re hoping to open May 18, but if they don’t, we won’t see inventory come in until August and September," Zachary Sight said.
Even with concerns about decreasing sales revenue and inventory for the future, dealerships say now may be the perfect time to buy a car if you’re looking to do so. They’re calling it a buyer's market.
"The new car incentives are better than they’ve ever been in history of new car incentives. Used car inventory is also great. Great buys on both sides," Zachary Sight said. "With interest rates as low as they’ve been, plus 0% for 84 months, there’s no better time to buy a vehicle."
For now, dealerships are ready for customers — and an industry-wide rebound.
"We’re sanitizing cars as soon as they come in for service. As they come in, we sanitize, and when they leave. We sanitize cars we sell and before and after test drives," Brian Sight said.
"With the incentives and seeing so many people look at cars in this time, when things loosen up a bit, we’ll see a ride back to normalcy," he added.
