DALLAS On a recent afternoon at Subaru of Plano, Texas,, managing partner David Thomas had to hand over the keys to the demo he was driving.
With few new cars on the lot and a tight supply of used vehicles, the staff needed to sell his car.
"I drove a used Legacy home," said Thomas.
That sort of improvisation could become routine as auto retailers adjust to a leaner life after Cash for Clunkers. The $3 billion government stimulus program, which offered consumers $3,500 to $4,500 incentives to trade in their old gas guzzlers for new vehicles, left most new-car lots in the area half-empty.
Moreover, most dealerships are grappling with an unusually tight supply of used vehicles hitting them on both sides of their lots and limiting consumer choices.
Shortages in either new or used vehicles are not that unusual. But local dealers say it's rare to suffer both simultaneously.
"We've never been here before," said Drew Campbell, president of the New Car Dealers Association of Metropolitan Dallas. "Our dealers are doing fine. But we're going to rediscover what our new norm is."
Dealers spend a lot more time these days at used-car auctions and on the phone trying to buy new cars from dealers in distressed states such as California and Florida, Campbell said. The tight supplies are pushing prices up for both.
Fortunately sort of for dealers, sales were slow during the first two weeks of September after Cash for Clunkers ended, easing the impact of the depleted inventories.
New car and truck sales plunged 23 percent nationally in September, with everyone but Hyundai falling. Sales in the four-county Dallas-Fort Worth area dropped 28.7 percent in September and are down 33.9 percent for the year, according to the Freeman Metroplex Recap of new-vehicle sales.
Dealers expected the numbers to be bleak.
"It was like the day after Mardi Gras dead as a hammer," Thomas said.
At Five Star Ford in Carrollton, Texas, and Five Star Ford of Plano, basic vehicles such as the Escape crossover, Ranger pickup and Focus compact were sold out, prompting both stores to stage "truck month" sales.
"It was truck month by default," said Brian Huth, the general manager of Five Star Ford of Carrollton who is also overseeing the group's newest store in Plano. "That's all we had to sell."
Automakers have cranked up their factories to replenish inventories. The General Motors assembly plant in Arlington, Texas, has scheduled overtime for the rest of the year to increase its production of full-size SUVs.
Cash for Clunkers temporarily pushed demand up to pre-2008 levels, said Don Herring, who owns three Texas Mitsubishi dealerships.
"If your factories are sized for 9 million (annual) sales and you get a 15 million market in August, supplies are going to be tight," Herring said. "It has certainly made September a tough month."
"Six months ago, we had too many cars," Thomas said. "The dealers dialed back their orders. Factories dialed back production. Then along came the clunker program."
Still, lots are slowly being restocked.
Freeman Toyota in Hurst and Freeman Honda in Dallas have 30-day supplies of new vehicles, which is adequate, said Dane Minor, general manager of both stores.
With few new cars on the lot and a tight supply of used vehicles, the staff needed to sell his car.
"I drove a used Legacy home," said Thomas.
That sort of improvisation could become routine as auto retailers adjust to a leaner life after Cash for Clunkers. The $3 billion government stimulus program, which offered consumers $3,500 to $4,500 incentives to trade in their old gas guzzlers for new vehicles, left most new-car lots in the area half-empty.
Moreover, most dealerships are grappling with an unusually tight supply of used vehicles hitting them on both sides of their lots and limiting consumer choices.
Shortages in either new or used vehicles are not that unusual. But local dealers say it's rare to suffer both simultaneously.
"We've never been here before," said Drew Campbell, president of the New Car Dealers Association of Metropolitan Dallas. "Our dealers are doing fine. But we're going to rediscover what our new norm is."
Dealers spend a lot more time these days at used-car auctions and on the phone trying to buy new cars from dealers in distressed states such as California and Florida, Campbell said. The tight supplies are pushing prices up for both.
Fortunately sort of for dealers, sales were slow during the first two weeks of September after Cash for Clunkers ended, easing the impact of the depleted inventories.
New car and truck sales plunged 23 percent nationally in September, with everyone but Hyundai falling. Sales in the four-county Dallas-Fort Worth area dropped 28.7 percent in September and are down 33.9 percent for the year, according to the Freeman Metroplex Recap of new-vehicle sales.
Dealers expected the numbers to be bleak.
"It was like the day after Mardi Gras dead as a hammer," Thomas said.
At Five Star Ford in Carrollton, Texas, and Five Star Ford of Plano, basic vehicles such as the Escape crossover, Ranger pickup and Focus compact were sold out, prompting both stores to stage "truck month" sales.
"It was truck month by default," said Brian Huth, the general manager of Five Star Ford of Carrollton who is also overseeing the group's newest store in Plano. "That's all we had to sell."
Automakers have cranked up their factories to replenish inventories. The General Motors assembly plant in Arlington, Texas, has scheduled overtime for the rest of the year to increase its production of full-size SUVs.
Cash for Clunkers temporarily pushed demand up to pre-2008 levels, said Don Herring, who owns three Texas Mitsubishi dealerships.
"If your factories are sized for 9 million (annual) sales and you get a 15 million market in August, supplies are going to be tight," Herring said. "It has certainly made September a tough month."
"Six months ago, we had too many cars," Thomas said. "The dealers dialed back their orders. Factories dialed back production. Then along came the clunker program."
Still, lots are slowly being restocked.
Freeman Toyota in Hurst and Freeman Honda in Dallas have 30-day supplies of new vehicles, which is adequate, said Dane Minor, general manager of both stores.
