The last time the National Automobile Dealers Association was able to hold its annual convention in person, the mood was far different. In a word, grimmer.
Just before the pandemic, pessimism abounded among the nation’s almost 18,000 new-car dealers. Threats loomed for the traditional sales model — for more than a century, one of the great generators of localized American prosperity.
There was concern, too, about the inexorable advance of electric cars, with their higher price tags and presumed reduced service needs. Autonomous cars portended a drop in car ownership (and buying) with their promise of expanded ride-hailing and car-sharing.
Then the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in March 2020 to deliver a feared final blow. While the year opened with brisk showroom traffic, the bottom fell out, with auto sales diving to an annualized rate of 8.8 million that April, roughly half the normal clip. Dealers were rushing to the exit doors, looking to offload businesses that might suddenly be worth only the price of their underlying real estate, if that.