NADA: No, This Is About Us
The Chair of the National Automotive Dealers Association, Annette Sykora, sought to distance her fellow dealers from the less likable elements of the industry (OEM CEOs, Gettelfinger) who preceded her in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee today. Calling dealers “the face of the industry,” Sykora advocated for what she termed “the unique role of dealers, most of whom are independent businesspeople who have invested their own money in their stores,” according to Automotive News [sub]. More pressingly, she has a tiny little problem with the proposed $25b bailout legislation, namely the provision calling on automakers to “rationalize” their operations, including “manufacturing work force, suppliers and dealerships.” “Dealership reduction is not necessarily the equivalent of dealership rationalization or dealership optimization,” said Sykora, echoing the subtly (or not) self-interested tone of UAW boss Ron Gettelfinger. The dealer’s wheeler-dealer went on to suggest that sales-boosting clunker-culling programs and SBA loans to dealers would be nice. And not for the first time. We get it. Nobody wants to do what it takes to make the D3 competitive, let alone save the taxpayer a buck. That much is clear. But how do any of these public displays of short-sighted self-interest make taxpayers any more likely to fork over $25b?
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The idea of car dealers going bankrupt fills my heart with a strange joy.
Kendahl: "What the American people need to learn is simple. If you want $2 worth of stuff and have $2, you’re good. If you only have $1, you either have to earn an extra dollar or decide which dollar’s worth of stuff you want more." PERFECT. Most Americans don't know how to live this way.
This touches on a peripheral topic I've wondered about recently. I wonder how much of the domestic sales fall-off over the last, say, 4-6 years can be credited not to the product but to the "dealer experience." How many buyers are avoiding US-nameplate dealers simply for fear of being beaten up by the system? How much business have the dealers chased away with their additional markups, shoddy overpriced options and "it's never under warranty" service departments? Discuss...