Car dealers hit sales dead end

For the first time in a decade, more auto sellers closed last year in Md. than opened for business

Bruce Schindler, who owns the Bob Davidson dealership on East Joppa Road, bought much of Doetsch's inventory, turning his Ford dealership into a Ford, Lincoln and Mercury dealership.

Schindler definitely has the passion for the business and the ability to talk about it - at length. He has been in the industry since he was in high school and started at Bob Davidson in 1976, when he was in his early 20s. He bought the franchise nine years ago.

He'll tell you about his first car (a 1970 Triumph Spitfire) and show you photos of the one that's on order from Vegas (a Shelby GT500 "Super Snake"), maybe pointing out his wife in the picture as well. He'll share the text message his 17-year-old son, who plans to follow in his dad's professional footsteps, just sent about Ford's rising stock price. And he'll go on about the industry's losses, mostly because they're his gains.

Schindler bought Dulaney's customer list and Towson Ford's assets. He's expanding and says sales are up. He's one of those benefiting from consolidation.

"My business philosophy is if you downsize your business and plan that things are going to be tough for you, you're planning to fail," he said, though he acknowledged that everyone's feeling the pinch these days. But he said he's not going anywhere.

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By the numbers

14.9

Millions of cars and trucks Global Insight expects dealers to sell this year, down from 16.1 million in 2007

32

Percentage of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler dealerships that have closed since 1980

2006

The year dealership new-vehicle departments had their first net loss after a decade of profitability

[Sources: Sun interviews, National Automobile Dealers Association]