Car Dealers

A new car is one of the most important purchases most Americans ever make and, perhaps, one of the most confusing. As car manufacturers seek to clear dealer lots and make room for new stock, customers are bombarded by deals offering financing with low to zero annual percentage rates or hundreds of dollars cash back.How can you sort through these deals and make a purchase that works out best for you? Experts say the most important thing is to prepare yourself in advance, by researching deals, comparing prices and financing sources and knowing your financial limit.

An effort in the General Assembly to lift a ban on Sunday car sales has again brought out car dealers protesting that they and their customers like the day off.The huge AutoNation USA retailer would like to see the ban lifted by the time it opens a store in Glen Burnie and possibly one elsewhere in the Baltimore region. The company's competitor in fixed-price, late-model used-car sales, CarMax, opened a lot in Howard County last year after lawmakers lifted that county's ban.The state law has exempted Montgomery and Prince George's counties for years, allowing Sunday car sales in those counties, although few dealerships are open there seven days a week.

Maryland new-car dealers launched the year on a down slope as sales dipped 4.4 percent in January, according to figures released yesterday by the Motor Vehicle Administration.It was the fifth consecutive month in which sales were lower than in the corresponding period of the previous year. Sales have been off in eight of the past nine months."Business was a little soft last month," said Robert C. Russel, president of R&H Motor Cars Ltd. in Owings Mills and chairman of the Maryland New Car and Truck Dealers Association, a trade group representing 320 new car dealers in the state.

Car wars '96 is being fought in Howard County. But like most regional conflicts, there is a good chance that the fighting will spill over into the rest of the state.The clash arose from a plan by Circuit City Stores Inc., a retailer better known for marketing televisions and stereos, to open one of its giant CarMax used car stores at the old Freestate race course just south of Savage.That alone is a threat to neighboring auto dealers, who are seeing an increasingly larger share of their profits derive from sales of used rather than new cars.

To car dealers around the country hoping for plentiful shipments of hot-selling Honda Accords and Civics, Stanley James Cardiges was the answer to their prayers. They had a nickname for the Baltimore-raised auto executive with the soft smile and the smooth voice.They called him "Car-Jesus."With the wave of a hand, the American Honda Motor Co. senior vice president could deliver truckloads of the popular imports to dealers willing to shell out something extra. In return, dealers from Maryland to California showered him and other Honda employees with ruby rings and Rolex watches, stacks of cash and expense-paid trips to Colorado and the Caribbean.

If you've never seen a car dealer pass up a chance to make a sale, take a look around Howard County this morning.Today marks the debut of a law that allows that county's auto retailers to open on Sunday. Of the dozen or so that do business in Howard County, only two planned to take the chance to open today.Antwerpen's Toyota Village in Clarksville will have half its staff on hand from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Griffith Saturn of Ellicott City will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.Another Clarksville dealer, Win Kelly Chevrolet Geo, will follow suit later this year or early next year.

A bill that would allow Sunday car sales in Howard County passed the state Senate on a 35-9 vote Monday night and has moved to a committee in the House of Delegates, where opponents are mounting their strongest lobbying efforts.County lawmakers hailed the approval, which had been expected, saying it moves the county a step closer to winning passage of a measure intended to help lure used-car "super store" CarMax to the long-vacant site of the Freestate racetrack, just south of Savage.CarMax, a subsidiary of Richmond, Va.-based Circuit City stores, has said that it would build the 300-worker, 46.3 acre operation only if it is allowed to sell on Sundays.

A bill that would allow Sunday car sales in Howard County is expected to win state Senate approval Monday, but car dealers and others hope their strong opposition will kill the measure when it reaches the House of Delegates. Topave the way for the Monday vote, the Senate yesterday voted 43-2 against an amendment to the bill that also would have allowed Sunday car sales in Anne Arundel County.Anne Arundel County lawmakers wanted the amendment so car dealers in their district could sell cars on Sundays and compete with dealers in Howard County if the bill becomes law.Now that it is set for a final vote Monday, no other jurisdictions can seek to include themselves in the bill.

REPEALING THE BLUE LAWS that ban Sunday sales of automobiles in Howard County may look like an unwanted imposition on the county's car retailers. Most of the dealers don't want it. Of the 13 dealerships in Howard, 10 oppose a repeal, saying it would be a hardship to stay open.The real push for repeal is actually coming from an entity known as Car-Max, a used-car superstore owned by Circuit City that wants to locate in Howard County. The problem is that Car-Max, which can employ between 250 and 500 people, is threatening not to move here unless it can operate on Sunday.

Responding to requests from a car dealer that wants to build in the Savage area and another already in Clarksville, Howard County Executive Charles I. Ecker will ask state politicians to allow Sunday car sales.The move would help Howard County dealers that compete with dealers in Prince George's and Montgomery counties -- the only counties in the state where dealers can sell cars on Sundays."I hate to force people out of the county to do business," Mr. Ecker said yesterday.On Wednesday, a spokesman for electronics giant Circuit City said the company wants to build a CarMax used-car mega-store on the old Freestate race course just south of Savage.

Credit markets for housing are loosening up a bit. Will automobile lending be next? Car dealers certainly hope so. Thanks partly to the decline in consumer spending power and partly to the evaporation of credit, 2008 was the worst year for auto sales in a very long time. Maryland dealers sold 16,842 new cars in November, down 38 percent from November 2007 and the worst result for any month in more than a decade. But dealers hope that federal bailouts will do for car loans what they're starting to do for home loans.

Car dealers say they are frustrated and disappointed that Congress has failed to pass a $14 billion loan package that is intended to save Chrysler and General Motors from bankruptcy, and they warn that the impact on the economy would be severe if those companies are allowed to fail. In Maryland, about 26,000 people are employed at the state's 340 auto dealerships, which contribute significantly to local philanthropy, from Little League to the state's Teacher of the Year Award. All of that is at risk, dealers said.

If your clunker of a car is about to give out, you'll probably be able to get a good deal on a new one because of the miserable economy. The reeling automotive industry is suffering from its worst sales in nearly 20 years. Car dealers are desperate for shoppers. And auto companies from Detroit to Tokyo are offering steep discounts and incentives to combat the slump. But consumers, worried about the turbulent economy, are holding on to their older vehicles longer. And even if they're interested in buying, the recent credit crunch has made it more difficult to secure car loans.

Bargain-conscious shoppers snubbed their noses at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. when it tried to back away from its low-price promise and raised the prices on toys over the holiday season. Department stores also had to rethink their strategy when sales lagged as consumers waited for better deals. Now, the car industry is feeling the pains of a consumer public that has gotten so used to discount shopping that it often won't buy at regular price. Car dealers have raked in record sales in recent years by luring customers with tantalizing incentives such as zero-percent interest and rebates worth several thousand dollars.

The past four years have been the best in history for the nation's auto retailers, and dealers in Maryland have shared in the boom times. According to an economic impact study released yesterday by the Maryland New Car and Truck Dealers Association, nearly one of every four motorists in the state bought a new or used car this year, and dealers rolled up impressive gains in total sales and vehicle sales, while enjoying a slight increase in profits....

A glut of used cars on the market is creating great buys for consumers and good times for dealers, but headaches for those in the auto leasing business, according to industry sources. "This is a terrific time to buy a used car," said Paul Taylor, chief economist with the National Automobile Dealers Association. He said an abundance of vehicles on the market has resulted in big bargains on used-car lots. Raymond C. Nichols, chairman and chief executive of Bel Air-based BSC America Inc., a holding company that operates auto auctions in Maryland and other parts of the country, agreed.

Developers, auto dealers, energy companies and port businesses were among the interests that helped Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. raise more than $620,000 in a 2 1/2 -week period this month for his campaign for governor. The GOP candidate, whose fund raising eclipsed that of Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend during the period, raised more than 90 percent of his money from Maryland sources, according to campaign finance reports filed yesterday. Townsend's fund raising, meanwhile, seemed to melt away during the Aug. 7 to Aug. 25 filing period.

Two class-action lawsuits filed in Nashville, Tenn., against two of the United States' most prominent automobile finance companies have opened a critical new battlefront in government efforts to combat racial discrimination in the consumer credit markets. The cases, filed under seal two years ago but recently unsealed on motions by the New York Times and the ABC News program "20/20," accuse General Motors Acceptance Corp. and Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. of participating in lending arrangements with car dealers that have resulted in blacks paying higher finance charges than whites on dealer-arranged loans for buying cars.

A new car is one of the most important purchases most Americans ever make and, perhaps, one of the most confusing. As car manufacturers seek to clear dealer lots and make room for new stock, customers are bombarded by deals offering financing with low to zero annual percentage rates or hundreds of dollars cash back.How can you sort through these deals and make a purchase that works out best for you? Experts say the most important thing is to prepare yourself in advance, by researching deals, comparing prices and financing sources and knowing your financial limit.

Maryland new-car dealers launched the year on a down slope as sales dipped 4.4 percent in January, according to figures released yesterday by the Motor Vehicle Administration.It was the fifth consecutive month in which sales were lower than in the corresponding period of the previous year. Sales have been off in eight of the past nine months."Business was a little soft last month," said Robert C. Russel, president of R&H Motor Cars Ltd. in Owings Mills and chairman of the Maryland New Car and Truck Dealers Association, a trade group representing 320 new car dealers in the state.