MAHONING VALLEY Incentives perk up sales at area auto showrooms

Despite the Sept. 11 attacks, sales rose 21 percent at area car dealers last month.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- Zero percent interest on new car sales has showrooms hopping despite the uncertainty created by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"Business has been really, really brisk," said Jack Dugan, general sales manager at Youngstown Buick Pontiac GMC Truck in Boardman.
His dealership sold more new vehicles in the first two weeks of October than it did in all of September.
Don Murphy, general manager at Donnell Ford in Boardman, said his dealership has tied last October's sales and is on pace for a record October.
"Traffic is at a year high. Zero percent has really sparked the market," he said.
Area showrooms were nearly empty for several days after the attacks. Dugan said his sales crew didn't put much effort in trying to make sales because they knew people had other things on their minds.
Domestic automakers started offering the financing incentives about Sept. 20. Dugan said people normally come to a dealership three or four times before deciding on a car, but they've been making up their minds on the first trip because of the incentives.
Comparison: Even with minimal sales immediately after the attacks, sales at Mahoning Valley dealers in September were 21 percent higher than they were in September 2000. Dealers in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties sold 4,603 new and used vehicles last month, according to the Automobile Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio.
GM said this week that it is extending its financing incentives to Nov. 18. Ford and Chrysler haven't announced whether they will continue the incentives past Oct. 31.
The deal: Financing includes zero percent interest on all 2001 models and limited no-interest financing on 2002 models.
For the year, sales at area dealers are down 15 percent from last year's pace. About 46,000 vehicles were sold by area dealers in the first nine months of this year.
Last year, sales were booming in the first few months of the year and then weakened as the stock market began to slide and the economy softened.
Murphy said there is one concern about the strong sales brought on by the financing incentives.
"Are we stealing next month's business?" he asked.
It will be up to the sales force to be creative and work hard to keep the sales pace up if the incentives end, he said.
shilling@vindy.com