Car sales sluggish in Savannah

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At JC Lewis Ford in Savannah, new and used car sales are down about 20 percent.

By Michelle Paynter - bio | email

SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - The credit crunch is taking a toll on the auto industry. At JC Lewis Ford in Savannah, new and used car sales are down about 20 percent.

A new study came out earlier this week predicting that one in five US car dealerships could go out of business by next year.

But just like the housing market and employment rates, Chatham County car dealership are faring better than the rest of the nation.

Salesmen like Chris Wegmann are just trying to weather the storm. "With all the attention that's going on in Washington and Wall Street people tend to react and hold tight and not do anything," he said.

JC Lewis Ford like many other dealerships, are offering some good deals right now, trying to lure in customers. "There's great incentives from the manufacturers," Wegmann said. "And used vehicles, the vehicles we are trading for we have to keep moving.'

Wegmann said more folks are looking at used cars or smaller, new ones.

Don Collins just bought a used Ford Explorer. He has good credit and money in the bank, so he's not letting what's happening on Wall Street effect his purchase.

"I put a nice down payment on it so the payments will be easy to handle so we're happy with it," Collins said.

Wegmann credits a strong local economy and the 20,000 soldiers who just returned from Iraq for keeping Savannah's auto industry from taking a big hit.

He's optimistic about the future, but Wegmann is aware of just how bad it is for other dealerships in other cities. Just last month, Bill Heard Chevrolet, the nation's largest Chevy dealership based in Columbus, Georgia, went out of business.

Heard Chevrolet blamed the tough market and rising fuel prices.

Even smaller dealerships like Crossgate Motors in Port Wentworth say it hasn't gotten that bad here.

"Every day we have people coming on the lot, every day," said manager Centennial Williams.

And if the price is right, customers like Collins will continue to buy.