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Saturday, August 23, 2008 3:00 AM Car buyers seek economy, efficiency By Laura Keeter | Times Staff Writer The power of the dollar. A dollar doesn't sound like much these days, but when gas goes up by a dollar or more a gallon, watch out. No, the highways aren't full of small economy cars as they were in the 1970s, but consumers are buying more fuel-efficient cars, local car dealers say. And unless the price of gas were to continue to drop and go below $3 a gallon, don't look for that trend to end anytime soon. Hubert Vester Honda typically has 18 Civics on the lot to choose from, said Mickey Bissett, senior sales consultant. He pointed to a galaxy grey metallic Civic parked to accentuate how the Civic, rated at 34 miles per gallon, highway, in 2006 was redesigned for a more sporty, sleek look. But on Tuesday, the Civic stock was diminished. "There's four right now -- they're such in demand," Bissett said. Bissett was helping two shoppers on the lot -- Jackie Whitley and Janet Hinnant, two BB&T employees on their lunch break. Whitley, however, was looking for a vehicle that would be more roomy than her current Mazda Protege, because her son will soon be launching into little league sports. "So you want the space without the big utility gas guzzler?" Bissett said as he directed her toward a shiny, black compact crossover SUV. "The CR-V is perfect for that," he said. The CR-V two-wheel drive gets 28 miles per gallon, Bissett cited from memory. The four-wheel drive gets 26 mpg, he said, compared to a typical SUV, which gets just 16 to 18 mpg. Whitley left without buying the vehicle that day. She said she had some more thinking to do. "I haven't had a car payment going on three years!" she said. "But I do like the CR-V." The spike in gas prices has been good for business for the Toyota and Honda dealerships, known for having vehicles with high gas mileage, said Hubert Vester, who has three automotive dealerships in Wilson and two others (Nissan and Ford) in Clinton. "We've actually been setting sales records with those lines," Vester said. "The Fords and Chevys we sell have slowed down." Business good for some Despite the higher gas prices, business is also good at the Lee dealerships, although the big trucks have seen a slowdown, said John Lee, president and owner of Lee Motor Co., with several dealerships in three states. "We're just not selling the amount of larger diesel trucks like we were," Lee said. "With diesel over $4 a gallon, that slows that business down." However, the market never came to a screeching halt for the Ford truck. "There's a need -- farmers and people who make their living in a truck, they've got to have a truck. They've got to have a size, and they have adjusted their budgets," he said. On the SUV side, bigger families have gotten used to the comfort and don't want to go to a smaller vehicle, he said. Because gas prices have been high this summer, it's meant less traffic on the new car lot, said Brad Cox, president of Cox Dodge Chrysler Jeep. "People who might be buyers in a regular time are kind of waiting around to see what happens," he said. However, used car sales have jumped with customers buying small, economy cars, Cox said. Lee said he has noticed people aren't trading in their vehicles as often. Also, vehicle shoppers are being more practical. "When fuel was less expensive, the consumer tended to buy more than what they actually needed. People are buying more of what they need now rather than what they want," Lee said. Although consumers typically think a foreign product is going to give them better gas mileage, a lot of the Ford products are fuel-efficient, he said. The Ford Flex, a seven-passenger crossover SUV, gets 26 mpg, for example. By far, people shopping for cars today are most concerned with fuel mileage, fuel efficiency and safety, Lee said. Five years ago, the main concern might have been looks and styling, he said. But it all goes in cycles, he said. Auto business evolving The automotive industry is evolving itself with new hybrids and electric cars and vehicles that must meet new federal standards of fuel efficiency. Lee warns it'll take quite a while to recoup the higher price for a hybrid through gas savings. "The hybrid products are more of an evolution than a revolution," he said. Vester predicts Chevrolet will be the first to corner the market on electric cars with The Volt in 2009 or 2010. "GM is riding a lot on that car. It's totally electric. You plug it in at home," Vester said. "I think Chevy is going to be the first one at the table with a decent-sized car." Cox says manufacturers are going to have to improve fuel efficiencies on the bigger SUVs to keep consumers interested. But, right now, gas prices are continuing to drop, said Adam York, an economic analyst for Wachovia Bank. Prices at the pump are slipping about a penny a day, York said. He predicted that consumers might see gas prices go down another 10 to 20 cents on a nationwide basis by the middle of September, which might mean more people willing to look again at bigger cars. The SUV Ah, the sport-utility vehicle -- a symbol of America. To some, the SUV stands for affluence, comfort and safety. To others, SUVs in giant sizes are wasteful, pretentious and hog the road. In the last 90 days, when fuel quickly rose to $4 from $3, the Cox Dodge Chrysler Jeep dealership saw about a 25 percent increase of people trying to trade in their SUVs for smaller, economical cars, Cox said. "People were scrambling to see if they could replace their gas guzzler with a more fuel efficient car," Cox said. Also, sales have been up for the dealership's two SUVs with gas mileage in the 30 mpg range -- the Jeep Compass and the Jeep Patriot, he said. "When gas hit the $3.99/$4 range, everybody was flocking to the small car," Vester said. "Now everybody is in a holding pattern. If gas goes below $3 again, I think people will go back at it." The bigger vehicles such as the full-size SUVs are at bargain prices now, Vester said, with manufacturers offering large rebates, and on the used market, good prices. "Actually now is really a good time for a person looking a Tahoe or Suburban to buy," he said. Dealerships are selling those Chevy SUVs from the factory at employee prices plus rebates of $5,000 to $6,000, he said. Although big truck sales slowed down at Vester's dealerships, Tahoe sales have remained fairly steady, he said. Meanwhile, the used market for big vehicles has seen some ups and downs, Vester said. Vester said he saw values drop $3,000 in three weeks in the used line of SUVs, although the prices are now coming back. "The values plummeted when the gas prices hit," he said. "The people who couldn't afford them before can afford them." keeter@wilsontimes.com | 265-7817 |
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