One dealership general manager, Kyle Risenhoover, Big Billy Barrett Hyundai, Dallas, recently took a Mercedes SLK and two late-model BMWs in trade from customers downsizing to Santa Fes and XG300s. Still, new-vehicle sales appear to be weathering the stock market storm. But the market mix is changing. Analysts don't agree on the extent to which Wall Street influences car buyers.
Some analysts say downturns wreak havoc on the entry-luxury segment.
And the upper luxury segment actually rose by almost 21 percent. But sales of its priciest models were down. Some 15 percent of Steve Smythe's customers at Mercedes-Benz of Beverly Hills have walked away from cars on order. And his backlog for some models isn't what it was 90 days ago. When the market's down so many points, that has to mean something.