You have to just about be walking on water to get financed but even with our prime customers, banks are looking for a reason to say no.” — AutoNation CEO Michael Jackson, The Wall Street Journal, October 2008

Are we really in an Auto Credit Crisis?

Why does everyone use AutoNation as the benchmark to what is happening in our industry?

A recent article in BusinessWeek online compared several AutoNation dealers to others. Example: Bankston Chevrolet (AutoNation dealer), 10 miles from Classic Chevrolet. Bankston Chevrolet delivered 85 new Chevy’s last month. Both Classic and Bankston Chevrolet use GMAC to finance their vehicles AND share the same demographic customer, yet AutoNation’s store came up 354 sales behind Classic’s.

Does this example along with a few others suggest that maybe it’s not as bad as reporters suggest?

An interesting article from BusinessWeek dives into 6 TRUTHS why there really might not be an auto credit crises.