Downey : City Will Spend $49,500 on Group Car Sales Promotion

The Downey City Council has approved spending $49,500 to help car dealers launch an advertising campaign to boost vehicle sales in the city.

The money will be used for signs, direct mail marketing and a slogan promoting Downey as the place to buy a car.

Last fall, the city paid Thayer Keener, a Glendale-based advertising consulting company, $10,000 to suggest ways to bring car buyers to Downey. Auto sales taxes is the city’s largest source of revenue, Assistant City Manager Lee Powell said.

All 11 dealers surveyed by the company expressed interest in a group marketing attack, said Martha J. Thayer, president of Thayer Keener.

Thayer suggested developing a joint marketing auto dealer association, in which each dealership will contribute about $500 monthly to participate in the campaign.