InTouch with Southern Kentucky June 2020 | Page 24

The Hard Sell
Local car dealers adapt to COVID-19 Pandemic
BY JANIE SLAVEN
COMMONWEALTH JOURNAL
The automobile industry — both
locally and nationally — has faced
unique challenges during the global
COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was something we’ve never
experienced before,” Brad Gover,
Marketing Director for the Blakley
Family of Dealerships, said, “as has
anybody.”
Governor Andy Beshear shut
down dealership showrooms from
March 23 to May 8 but allowed their
service departments to remain
open for vehicle repairs. During the
shutdown the state did allow for
internet car sales.
“We’ve done internet sales, we’ve
done phone sales, we’ve done
delivery,” Brandon Wilson, Floor
Sales Manager with Don Franklin
KIA, said. “That was a lot of it.”
Since social distancing and
constant disinfecting is the
new normal, service and parts
departments have entirely changed
the way customers drop off their
cars and trucks.
“We were able to service all of
our customers pretty much on
schedule, of course, with taking
the precautions,” Gover said. “The
showroom had to be closed but we
still had our sales staff here to help
with curbside service or at-home
test drives.”
Gover explained that most business
involved curbside service. The staff
would sanitize the “touch points”
— such as steering wheel and door
handles — as well as put in seat and
steering wheel covers plus floor mats.
The customer could then take the
vehicle themselves for a test drive.
“Everything was changed because
there couldn’t be any face-to-face
paperwork,” Gover said. “But we were
able to sell some vehicles.…
“We appreciate the community and
were so thankful to be able to operate
in the capacity we were able to.”
Wilson described the difficulty in
conveying a vehicle’s attributes when
a typical showroom display wasn’t
available. “We had to do most of it
verbally, which was a little bit of a
chore to do,” he said.
Nationwide, car sales are down
due to the downturn in the
economy, but automakers are now
offering generous incentives and used
vehicle prices have declined.
“Ford has just put some incredible
incentives in place that are still
ongoing,” Gover said, “so that’s a
good thing, but obviously we saw the
effect of a closed showroom.”
“KIA put out that 0-percent
financing and 120 days until the first
payment to help ease the burden
on customers,” Wilson explained,
adding that there was a brief uptick
toward used sales. “But since we’ve
reopened, we’re tracking quite a bit in
new sales.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic
still underway, both Gover and
Wilson said their dealerships are
still disinfecting the buildings and
vehicles regularly. Now that the
showrooms are open, Gover said the
Blakley Dealerships provide masks,
24 • In Touch with Southern Kentucky June 2020