Did you know that Car dealers try to survive as economy, sales drop

NEW ORLEANS – At this year's version of the National Automobile Dealers Association convention, survival has passed maximizing profits as the focus of the annual event.
So as thousands of dealers from across the U.S. gathered Saturday in New Orleans, they were greeted by workshops entitled "Selling up in a down economy: Taking the bull by the horns" and "Tough times, tougher dealers: Saving your dealership's assets."
By almost all accounts, 2009 will be among the toughest years ever faced by the roughly 20,000 new car dealerships in the U.S., with sales of cars and lightweight trucks projected to shrink by as much as 6 million vehicles from the 16.1 million sold as recently as 2007. Sales last year were 13.2 million, down 18 percent from 2007, and December sales ran at an annual rate of around 10 million. Last year's sales were the worst in 26 years.
The workshops, said convention Chairman Jeff Carlson, are designed to help dealers cope with 2009 and make it to the day when the auto market bounces back.
"It's our charge to serve the dealers and to help them do everything that they can to remain viable," said Carlson, who runs two Ford Motor Co. dealerships in Colorado.