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Foreign vs. Domestic Sales: How COVID Has Affected the Bottom Line

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Home  |  Car Transport   |   Foreign vs. Domestic Sales: How COVID Has Affected the Bottom Line

COVID-19 has disrupted our everyday lives and has impacted nearly every industry from toilet paper and hand sanitizer to airlines and restaurants. As one would expect, the automotive industry is no different. It’s tough to purchase cars when dealerships across the country aren’t operating as normal and people are searching for ways to complete contactless purchases. However, it isn’t just dealerships that took the hit from COVID-19. Foreign and domestic car manufacturers all across the globe were forced to enact temporary shutdowns last March in order to halt the spread of the coronavirus. As a result, many of these manufacturers suffered deficits and experienced lower quarter end profit margins because of the pandemic. However, it isn’t all bad news for automotive sales. As vaccines become readily available, lockdown restrictions are lifted, and stimulus packages are sent to support economic recovery, the automotive industry seems to be bouncing back. Let’s examine how COVID is affecting profit margins for both foreign and domestic auto sales.   

Domestic Sales

The automotive industry in the U.S. was quite fragile for much of last year. Limited inventory due to plant closures, fewer incentives, and lower demand from consumers all contributed to declining sales last year. Domestic manufacturers such as Ford and General Motors suspended North American production for some time last year in an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19. As for the impact of the profit and and loss of these automakers, domestic manufacturers suffered a slump in profit margins and experienced a deficit of nearly 10% last year. Now, as vaccine efforts increase, restrictions are lifted, and economic recovery is beginning, domestic sales have slowly begun to increase in recent months. One reason for this is the push to online and digital sales. As social distancing continues to be encouraged, more and more consumers are shifting to online shopping and domestic manufacturers are taking notice. While brick and mortar dealerships are still experiencing declining sales, online sales are on the rise. As manufacturers continue to focus on contactless sales and better online experiences, we can expect to see a continued increase in domestic sales. 

Foreign Sales

Across the board, both foreign and domestic automakers reported issues due to COVID-19. It should be noted that although manufacturers in China and South Korea did experience some decline, it was not as damaging as other countries because these countries were able to suppress the spread of the disease much faster. Other regions such as Western Europe and Southeast Asia experienced declines of more than 30%. Specifically, companies including Nissan and Mazda fell the most, while companies such as BMW, Hyundai/Kia, and Daimler experienced losses of only about 20%. Toyota also reported minimal damage and maintained operating profit margins at a low level. Fortunately, some foreign manufacturers, such as those in China, are seeing fats recovery thanks to improved car buying options and better incentives on new cars. The easing of lockdown restrictions in many European countries coupled with stimulus packages are beginning to benefit the region’s automotive industry. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Honest Answers to Your Car Shipping Questions

Yes, we always ask for your specific pickup and delivery addresses, if the carrier can get right to the addresses you provide, they will. If the addresses that you give us are not safely accessible for a Multi-car carrier, however, you will need to make arrangements with the driver to meet at a nearby location where the carrier can safely get in and out.

People do it all the time (rarely for free) but the official answer is no.

Not what you wanted to hear, we know, but that is the honest answer.

We are not licensed to broker the shipment of household goods and, likewise, no car carrier that operates in the USA is licensed to transport them from state to state either. Despite what you might be being told by other car shipping companies you may speak with.

Remember, at the end of the day we're all salespeople, and the true answer to this question is not a great selling point.

You will hear a lot of companies tell you that you can put up to 100 pounds of items in the trunk, but that is not entirely true. That fact is that items of that amount are fairly common and the department of transportation is probably not going to split hairs and fine the trucker over items of that amount, provided they are not over their weight limit. They could fine them, however, if they see a vehicle stuffed full of personal items so the car carrier will most likely try to negotiate something with you to cover themselves against any costs they could incur. It's not something we can build into your contract though.

We have a short and helpful video on this topic in our user videos.

Only in rare cases and car carriers will usually charge a premium to make it happen.

All dates given by car carriers are typically estimates and projections.

For this reason (and to keep your cost down) we ask that you build in some flexibility and give us the earliest possible date you would be WILLING to release the vehicle, even though it may not be your preferred date.

We'll put you in direct contact with your car carrier and the driver will also typically call you the afternoon or evening before your pick up and delivery (they won't just show up unannounced, and if they do we want to hear about it). However, car carriers are out on the road battling traffic, weather and any number of other factors that can and do throw them off of their pickup and delivery projections from time to time.

If the projected dates we give you come and you are unable to make contact with your carrier, please call our office immediately so that we may help resolve the situation.

The average transit time from pick up to delivery on any vehicle going coast to coast will average 7 to 10 days. From there you can figure your transit time based on how far your vehicle is traveling, i.e. from either coast to the Midwest might average 3-7 days.

Yes!

Even better, we do not even ask for payment until we have you confirmed for pickup by a safe, reliable, fully insured, direct car carrier. If for any reason you do not ship your car with the carrier that we arrange for you, there is no fee.

The fees paid directly to the carrier however, (in most cases, their fees are not paid until your vehicle is delivered) are not directly controlled by us, so any requests for a refund of the carrier's portion would need to be addressed with the carrier directly.

Of course! And you are always backed by our Damage Free Guarantee policy.

Part of what you pay us for is to verify that the car carrier that we put you on is covered by the proper amount of insurance and that everything is up to date.

There is never any additional cost to you for this coverage, and their insurance is always primary.

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