It’s a much-discussed idea, but how true is it that the best time of year to look for cars for sale and buy a car is the week between Christmas and New Year? What makes the Christmas season such an interesting time of year in the world of auto sales? There are some obvious (and boring) factors we could consider, like people being in a generous, giving mood, others celebrating anniversaries, milestones, or buying gifts for loved ones, the list about consumers goes on. Dealers are getting to the end of the year, it makes sense they’d do a big sales push, plus the sales people will be desperate to meet quotas, get bonuses and so on…
But is that all there is to it? Let’s dive into the lesser-known aspects of the Christmas car-buying season to see if we can gain any further insight.
The Weather Outside is Frightful…
…but the dealership is so delightful. The entire winter season for much of the country is a grotesque snowy and icy mess. Who wants to go outside looking at cars during that time? That is the very fact that spurs dealership and their sales teams to create magnificent deals. The savvy car customer can wrap their head around this idea, and so brave the elements to grab those discounts and deals with two hands. This one doesn’t apply if you’re in southern California of course, where you likely don’t even know what cold is, but it gives you an idea of the national picture.
All I Want for Christmas is…
…bragging rights? Well, there is certainly an element of one-upmanship among the various automakers and their many dealerships. The final sales numbers at the end of the year might be the last great push to getting into the top 10 or top 5 rankings of annual sales. It’s like a second Black Friday for the dealerships, a last-ditch effort to stick it to the competition and come out on top with the best car deals.
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like…
…a dead sales month is coming. Dealerships know all too well that January and February, the tail-end of winter, are generally quiet months for sales. After the craziness of the holiday season, people have usually racked up all the debt they can handle and are trudging back to work to resume their duties of paying it all off again in time for next Christmas. None of this bides well for car dealerships. Therefore, that critical Christmas-New Year window is more important than ever.
Last Christmas, you gave me…
…too much excess inventory. What a sales person fears is the wrath of their bosses as they discover that those VW Atlas SUVs or BMW i3s you meant to sell from the current model year are still taking up valuable storage real-estate as the next model year vehicles are being delivered. Car dealerships have a serious premium on display and storage space, regardless of their scale. There’s never enough room, and that means having to sell, sell, sell.
Ding Dong Merrily on…
…high taxes. To be more precise, there’s a pesky inventory task that’s levied on many businesses, including car dealerships. It’s basically a kind of property tax that is applied to the value of your inventory. If you have tons of leftover inventory plus the new inventory coming in, then you are in a serious tax situation. Is it any wonder, then, that sales people feel under pressure to relieve their precious dealerships of this burden as much as humanly possible?
