I should preface what I am about to say with an acknowledgement of gratitude. COVID-19 has harmed or even taken so many lives away that the gravity of lost sales absolutely pales in comparison. Nobody in my immediate family or close circle of friends and loved ones has suffered any permanent loss or injury other than economic (thank God). I live in the world of BMW retailing, highline European import luxury cars are just that (a luxury that only a few privileged can actually afford), and the loss of a few car deals are nothing compared with what other people have suffered through over the past 90 days.
Back in the late 1980s I lived through the "Black Monday" stock market crash. Over the following days/weeks/months it seemed like things would never be the same, but eventually things turned around and got better again. In the early 1990s, we had the Savings & Loan scandal, and Persian Gulf War I. Both of these events hit the car business hard, but we rebounded due to mostly to sheer perseverance and resolve.
On 9/11/2001 the twin WTC towers fell, and later in 2002 the BMW transport ship 'Tricolor' sank, taking with it many "Sold Order" BMWs. I remember having to make the call to few buyers to let them know their new E39s were resting on the bottom of the ocean. It was memorable only because of heartache, dreams dashed, but ultimately vehicle orders replaced.
In the later 2000s we had the Great Recession. Sales screeched to a halt, a trickle at best for a year. Only with the help of low-interest rate loans, "Cars for Clunkers" programs, etc., did any semblance of normalcy resume. By 2011 business began to boom again and continued to grow steadily, well, until now, the present Coronavirus Pandemic Crisis.
Today, May 14th 2020 is going to go down in the anals (sic) of my auto-sales career alongside the aforementioned.
Until yesterday, things were beginning to look up. Factories re-opening, BMW shipping cars to dealers again, and with the announcement of the "Sunset" of BMW European Delivery, I was on a roll. I had made a half-dozen or so fresh deals over the last week, and then today happened.
Now, we all knew that shutting down all of production was going to really screw up our supply. We expected that some orders would get lost (cancelled/deleted), and that it would take a while before things normalized.
I never in my wildest dreams expected to see what happened today...
.
Back in the late 1980s I lived through the "Black Monday" stock market crash. Over the following days/weeks/months it seemed like things would never be the same, but eventually things turned around and got better again. In the early 1990s, we had the Savings & Loan scandal, and Persian Gulf War I. Both of these events hit the car business hard, but we rebounded due to mostly to sheer perseverance and resolve.
On 9/11/2001 the twin WTC towers fell, and later in 2002 the BMW transport ship 'Tricolor' sank, taking with it many "Sold Order" BMWs. I remember having to make the call to few buyers to let them know their new E39s were resting on the bottom of the ocean. It was memorable only because of heartache, dreams dashed, but ultimately vehicle orders replaced.
In the later 2000s we had the Great Recession. Sales screeched to a halt, a trickle at best for a year. Only with the help of low-interest rate loans, "Cars for Clunkers" programs, etc., did any semblance of normalcy resume. By 2011 business began to boom again and continued to grow steadily, well, until now, the present Coronavirus Pandemic Crisis.
Today, May 14th 2020 is going to go down in the anals (sic) of my auto-sales career alongside the aforementioned.
Until yesterday, things were beginning to look up. Factories re-opening, BMW shipping cars to dealers again, and with the announcement of the "Sunset" of BMW European Delivery, I was on a roll. I had made a half-dozen or so fresh deals over the last week, and then today happened.
Now, we all knew that shutting down all of production was going to really screw up our supply. We expected that some orders would get lost (cancelled/deleted), and that it would take a while before things normalized.
I never in my wildest dreams expected to see what happened today...
.