Weekend Report | The Freeport News | PDF Online Guide

Monday, July 6, 2009

Home National Sports Business Lifestyles Religion Arts & Culture Pulse Spice Editorial letters Opinion Foodie Sportscope Real Talks Weekend Report PDF's Classifieds Contact About Us Archive Weather

New car dealers take on auto shops By INDERIA SAUNDERS ~ Guardian Business Reporter ~ Inderia@nasguard.com: A local auto repair shop continues to enjoy a boom in business despite new car sales creeping northward — the latter driven by greater purchase incentives. That isn't to say deal dealers aren't trying to change that. According to Ben Albury, operations manager at Bahamas Bus and Truck Co., price-abating programs like car trade-ins are needed now needed more than ever to clinch car deals and keep Bahamians from looking to rehabilitate an old ride. "The auto repair business has seen an increase," he told Guardian Business. "But we're now doing trade-ins again to get people to buy new cars. "That's been a stronger point in my opinion because it encourages people not to drive their vehicles until it can't run anymore." The comments back up the recent indicators pointing to an increasing number of Bahamians now choosing to stick with the cars they already have. They are willing to spend several hundred dollars intermittently to patch up aging vehicles instead of splurging on a new one. In fact, auto repair shops are likely one of the few businesses actually maintaining or improving revenue streams. It's a situation not just isolated to The Bahamas either, with U.S. auto shops also reporting good sales. Helping lift that profit margin is Bahamian penny pinching amidst an increasing unemployment rate, now in excess of 12 percent in New Providence and 16 percent in Grand Bahama. It's this very reason that's likely leading to good business for Bahamas Bus and Truck auto repair shops at the same time hampering rapid growth in new car sales. "The biggest factor with people buying new cars is with the downpayments, which is sometimes the big difference right now in somebody being able to afford a new vehicle or not," Albury explained. "If they have a trade in, sometimes that can cover all the downpayment [otherwise] a lot of people cannot afford one." Which in turn, leads to more patchwork on their cars. Orlando Butler of OCD Auto told Guardian Business in an earlier interview that as the country settled into an economic slowdown, minor repairs at his shop bumped up by five percent in a matter of weeks. That was earlier in the year. Time will tell if the steady boost in business to auto repair shops will last as new car sales get back on track and vendors like Albury get more aggressive in terms of incentives. They have room to grow, with their American counterparts offering an average $1,500 more in incentives on each and every car they're looking to sell. Still, Albury is already reporting a steady 15 percent increase in sales month over month. "I did a study and we saw every month got 12 to 15 percent better than the month before," he said. "To me that shows a strengthening in the economy. "And when you see the hard hit markets start to improve that's a good sign." Monday, July 6, 2009