Despite the “cash for clunkers” trade-in incentive program last summer, 2009 turned out to be the worst year for Clark County auto dealers in … well, a long time.

“You’d have to go back to the early 1980s to see sales as low as last year,” said Jon Creedon, owner-manager of Vancouver Ford off state Highway 500. “But we think that was the bottom. We’ve already seen some improvement in bank lending, loan delinquencies are down and repos are down. We’re seeing a significant increase in online inquiries, a precursor to buying.”

That would be very good news for dealers who were battered by the economic downturn that had consumers frozen with concern over job security and declining household income.

Last year, a total of 7,907 new vehicle sales were registered by Clark County residents through the Washington Department of Licensing. All those purchases might not have occurred in the county, but the total is a good indicator of the market. Last year’s sales registrations were down 21.2 percent from 2008 and down a brutal 38.3 percent from the peak sales year of 2006, when 12,820 new vehicles were registered in the county.

Only two months last year saw sales above 2008: in August during the clunkers program, and in December, said the licensing department.

The only comfort is that sales weren’t any better for other dealers around the U.S. as the market slumped in the face of the economic meltdown.

Curt Warner of Curt Warner Chevrolet in Vancouver said he’s expecting sales to improve this year as consumers gain more confidence about the economy and their jobs.

“People are still cautious,” said Warner, who has owned his Vancouver dealership for the past 10 years. “It’s a new world … you almost have to revisit everything; how you estimate your sales force, how you market products.”

Nationally, January looked promising. Last month, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales for the industry came in at about 10.8 million cars and trucks, up from 9.6 million a year ago but down from 11.2 million in December, said Marketwatch.com.

Wholesale turmoil

For Roger Decker, sales manager at Lewis River Motor Co. in Woodland, it’s more than that, as he battles to find good wholesale deals on preowned vehicles that can be sold on his lot.

The clunkers program took 500,000 vehicles out of the market that were sent to the trash heap, he said. With fewer preowned cars, prices at the wholesale level are up.

“Kelley Blue Book is issuing weekly updates to its value estimates, trying to keep up with the changes,” Decker said. “A used Chevy pickup that might have sold $1,000 below Kelley Blue Book at auction is now selling at $1,500 over Blue Book. The consumer isn’t on board with this change.”

That means tighter profit margins for dealers at all levels of the market.

Buying down

Decker said he sees some customers “buying down” by trading in a new $30,000 vehicle with a $700- or $800-a-month loan payment to something less fancy that gets the monthly payment down to $400. Most buyers seem to want something at $150 to $250 a month, Decker said.

“It really doesn’t matter how successful these people are, they want to save their money,” he said.

The sales outlook brightened in January. Dealers interviewed for this story saw sales improve in December and January over the same months a year ago.

Nationally, forecasters are calling for a gradual recovery. Some used “tepid” to describe market demand.

“January was a decent month. We’re not losing money, but we’re not setting any records,” said Decker, who has been at Lewis River for 13 years. “We’ve basically had to throw out all the statistics from the past and start over.

“You can’t do business like you used to do business.”

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