Is the whole country slow??

[JCFI]

I want to know what the hey is going on this month (October). The Tri-State area is DEAD DEAD DEAD. All my banks tell me business is off and every friend of mine in every type of store all over the state is off almost 50%. We've never seen anything like it and its not cool at all.

I think the big 3 sucked a lot of people out early giving away cars and left us a dead market. The sad part about it is every GM owner I know is hurting, and some smaller stores the owner's are dipping into their own pockets to make payroll and keep the store open. Gas prices certainly dont help and in the North East im sure people are worried about prices to heat their homes.

Whats going on is REALLY REALLY bad.. We normally do 350-450 new Hondas every month and 100-125 used.

Used has been off for months and new cars for October was the worst its been in years.

Any input? Is the rest of the country this dead?

[Topshop]

I want to know what the hey is going on this month (October). The Tri-State area is DEAD DEAD DEAD. All my banks tell me business is off and every friend of mine in every type of store all over the state is off almost 50%. We've never seen anything like it and its not cool at all.

I think the big 3 sucked a lot of people out early giving away cars and left us a dead market. The sad part about it is every GM owner I know is hurting, and some smaller stores the owner's are dipping into their own pockets to make payroll and keep the store open. Gas prices certainly dont help and in the North East im sure people are worried about prices to heat their homes.

Whats going on is REALLY REALLY bad.. We normally do 350-450 new Hondas every month and 100-125 used.

Used has been off for months and new cars for October was the worst its been in years.

Any input? Is the rest of the country this dead?

There seem to be pockets that are good and others that are bad. In the past, I believe you would have seen a large shakeout by now, but the easy access to credit today has kept both consumers and businesses afloat that "should have sunk" by now. The whole situation is scary to say the least. Credit is not infinite...there must be a bottom to the hole. Rates are climbing. Rumors of businesses, large and small, folding abound. The strong economic numbers being reported defy logic.

Many automotive businesses are maintaining relatively steady numbers via constantly increased marketing...spending and doing a LOT more to get the same results.

Extreme focus on expenses...becoming lean without cutting too many services...would appear to be the best advice for most businesses in this environment.

Tom Ham
AutomotiveManagementNetwork.com