Publicly owned retailers have reported varying degrees of impact.
Group 1 Automotive Inc. last week said it was furloughing 3,000 U.S. employees for at least 30 days and slashing executive salaries, as its U.S. sales were down 50 to 70 percent from a typical March. Group 1 has had to close sales departments in some U.S. stores.
Lithia Motors Inc. last week said its 188 stores were open, but 30 percent were located in states that had prohibited vehicle sales. Lithia has cut staff but didn’t provide numbers.
Asbury Automotive Group on March 20 closed McDavid Honda Frisco in Texas after learning an employee tested positive for COVID-19. Asbury followed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and advised store employees to self-quarantine and monitor themselves for symptoms, a spokeswoman said. Asbury plans to reopen the store Saturday, April 4.
AutoNation Inc. said Thursday its stores remained open coast to coast and no employees had been laid off. The company cut store hours beginning last week.
Penske Automotive Group has shut down four dealerships in Puerto Rico and closed showrooms at six CarSense used-vehicle stores in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Penske spokesman Anthony Pordon said the retailer is “evaluating next steps” as they relate to possible layoffs or furloughs.
Sonic Automotive Inc. CEO David Smith told Bloomberg last week that the company had laid off “a whole bunch of people” in Northern California and that it would have to reduce staff “without a doubt nationwide, if only temporarily.”
Used-vehicle retail giant CarMax Inc. had closed 91 stores in 21 states, more than 40 percent of its store count, as of Friday. CarMax said it had not laid off or furloughed any employees.
“Associates at locations that are temporarily closed will be paid for up to 14 days,” CarMax said in a statement. “We are currently working on plans for if stores remain closed longer than 14 days.”
In Maryland, where dealers were able to keep sales operating, Brandon Younger, president of the four-store Younger Automotive Group in Hagerstown, said he’s had to lay off employees “in every department,” though he declined to provide numbers. He has also shuffled some staff into other roles.
Hireology has seen a hiring freeze at nearly half the dealerships it works with, with some dealerships instituting mass furloughs or layoffs. Robinson expects another wave of cuts in mid-April after dealers receive March financial statements, with more possible in the future.
“We went from near-record vehicle sales at the end of February to what will be the worst month on record in over a decade,” Robinson said. “The pace of the decline is breathtaking.”
Lindsay VanHulle and David Muller contributed to this report.
