Local Saturn dealerships are preparing for closure while those in the greater Valley selling other brands say they are seeing a gradual growth in sales. Saturn of Antelope Valley in Palmdale is preparing to close and re-open as a Chevrolet dealership in Lancaster on Nov. 1, said Alex Bean, the dealership’s sales manager. The closure is the result of General Motors discontinuing the Saturn brand among others, a plan it announced in October 2009. Saturn dealerships were given a year to close their businesses. The Palmdale dealership has still been getting business by selling used Saturn vehicles, Bean said. However, the move to a larger site and the shift to selling new vehicles again will mean the dealership will have to make some changes. “We probably have to upsize (and) hire a few people because right now, we haven’t been selling new cars since early this year or the end of last year,” Bean said, adding that the there are currently about 40 employees working at the Palmdale site. Bean said the dealership has been informing customers about the new site ahead of time through e-mails and advertisements. “I think we’ll definitely double our business and maybe more,” he added. Galpin Motors already closed its Saturn dealership in Santa Clarita in June and relocated another one of its local dealerships to the empty space in July. Galpin Santa Clarita, which now occupies the Saturn spot, sells Lincoln, Mercury and Mazda vehicles, said Dennis McCroskey, the dealership’s sales manager. Galpin Motors’ North Hills site, Saturn of the Valley, will also be closing after Oct. 15. However, it has not yet been determined whether another dealership will be brought in, McCroskey added. Gradual improvements Auto retailers throughout the San Fernando Valley region have seen some improvements in sales over the past several months. The activity reflects slow growth of auto retail sales throughout the nation during 2010, despite reports that August sales dropped slightly from the month before and were far below August 2009 levels. For the month of August, Autodata Corp. reported that just under 1 million light vehicles were sold nationwide, which represents a 21 percent drop from August 2009, according to the American International Automobile Dealers Association’s Web site. However, August 2010 sales were only down 5 percent from the previous month, and they were up 8.4 percent for the year. Auto dealers and industry experts attribute the lower August sales numbers this year to the absence of the federal Cash for Clunkers program that offered rebates for old cars. Johnny Harrison, president of Glendale auto dealers group Brand Boulevard of Cars, said he has seen the progress come in waves. “We start to see some spikes with things looking like they’re coming back around, and then they die off,” said Harrison, who is also vice president of Lexus of Glendale. “It’s a little bit like a roller coaster.” Universal City Nissan owner Lenny Sage said that while August sales at the company’s six dealerships were about 40 percent lower than August 2009 levels due to the Cash for Clunkers program, they were about 30 percent higher than August 2008 levels. The dealership has also seen some general changes for the better during 2010. Looser credit “There’s been no dramatic changes or improvements, just subtle improvements and stabilization due to a multitude of factors,” he said. “One includes inventory. Another one includes the availability of credit for consumers. “Auto credit seems to have loosened up a little bit and consumer confidence has kind of taken a small balance off the bottom.” Sage said he expects the market will improve throughout the rest of 2010 and next year, but only through small, moderate advances in revenues. “Primarily, the job picture is going to play the biggest role in the recovery, and I don’t know that California is going to be putting a lot of people to work very quickly any time soon.” Valencia Acura saw its August sales increase 20 percent compared to the same period last year, said the Don Fleming, owner of the dealership and president of the Santa Clarita Valley Auto Dealers Association. Fleming said he believes his dealership’s improvements are largely due to more local advertising and better offers by car manufacturers. “The factories are really stepping it up,” Fleming said. “There’s incentives to buy – low lease rates, zero-percent financing, low interest rates.” However, even with the deals, Fleming said consumers are still shopping with caution and holding onto their old cars a lot longer before buying replacements. He also expects improvement to continue gradually.
Local Auto Dealerships Seeing Gradual Improvements
