REGIONAL REPORT : Southland Car Buyers Not Sold on Fuel Efficiency : Autos: People seem to care more about features and cost than gas mileage despite rising prices at the pump.
While gas prices at the pump have soared, customers at Southern California auto dealerships are still more concerned about price and style than fuel efficiency.
After two months of soaring gasoline prices triggered by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, auto industry officials say consumers have not changed their auto-buying habits dramatically. Industry sales figures for September, which were released Wednesday, showed that sales volume and the types of autos sold remain unchanged. September sales fell less than 1% from year-ago levels.
With a few exceptions, the comments of local dealers Wednesday seemed to bear that out.
“They are still buying cars and they are still buying big cars,” said Don Engle, new-car sales manager at Los Feliz Ford in Glendale, where cars like the Crown Victoria, which gets 17 miles per gallon in city driving, have held their own against more fuel-efficient models.
Customers do ask about fuel efficiency, said, Engle, “but it’s not like the 1970s when the first thing out of their mouth was: ‘What gas mileage does it get?’ ”
While some dealerships have noticed an increase in sales of smaller, more fuel-miserly cars, gasoline prices do not seem to be dictating what customers are buying--yet.
“People ultimately will turn to smaller, more efficient cars, just like they did in the 1970s,” said Rod Alberts, executive director of the Orange County Motor Car Dealers Assn.
“If (gasoline) climbs to $2.50 or $3 per gallon, you’ll definitely see an impact on auto sales,” said Ed Wissing, finance director for Mossy Ford in San Diego. “But gasoline is still relatively inexpensive. While (increased fuel prices) won’t help, they’re not an important factor.”
For car shoppers Diane and Bill Jolas of Glendale, fuel efficiency takes a back seat to getting as many features and options as possible for their money. “This is $11,000 and you still have to get the radio” as an extra, said Diane Jolas, peering into a Nissan Sentra at a Glendale dealership. “If you pay $12,000 to $15,000, why not get everything you want? A $20,000 car is nothing these days.”
High fuel efficiency has meant brisk sales for some models, however. At Allen Gwynn Chevrolet in Glendale, salesman Jack Larson said the dealership has a hard time keeping the gas sipping Geo Metro in stock.
“The are starting to ask for the small cars--it just started in the last week or so,” Larson said. “They want that little Metro that gets 58 miles per gallon. Once they come in, they go right out.”
In contrast, sales of the flashy-looking but less fuel-efficient Camaros are slow, and business in general has been flat, said Larson. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years and this is the slowest. There is more action at Forest Lawn.”
Larson is not the only auto salesman complaining about the lack of buyers.
“The automobile sales business has been down for the past year, and we are certainly projecting that it will continue to be down for a while yet,” said Steve Coleman, chief financial officer of Irvine-based Campbell Automotive Group, a mega-dealership with nine franchises--including Lincoln-Mercury, Porsche, Mazda, Volkswagen and Nissan--on seven lots.
At Harbor Chrysler in Ventura, sales manager John Macik attributes a 10% decline in sales to the sluggish economy and the Mideast conflict, which have made consumers wary. “They’re a little uncertain as far as making major purchases right now,” he said of potential buyers.
Toyota of Simi Valley has cut its on-site inventory to 180 cars from 260 to save money, said sales manager Darrek Kroll. “Prices from the manufacturer haven’t dropped,” Kroll said. “We’re taking smaller deals than we would have in the past.”
Besides worries about the economy and the Mideast, Wissing at Mosey Ford in San Diego linked the sales slowdown to the rebate fever that swept auto showrooms during the late 1980s. Then, dealers sold record numbers of cars, many to customers who took out five-year loans.
“Those people are out of the market for two or three more years,” Wissing said. “For the most part, they’re upside down . . . they owe more on their cars than they’re worth in a trade . . . it’s not an economically feasible time for them” to trade in their old car for a new model.
The price of gas does not enter the sales equation at Bobileff Motor Car Co., which sells Ferraris and Lamborghinis in San Diego. “Gasoline and insurance are just incidentals when you’re spending $50,000,” said owner Gary Bobileff.
Contributing to this story were staff writers Greg Johnson in San Diego, John O’Dell in Orange County and Kirsten Lee Swartz in Ventura.
