With gas prices near $4 a gallon, Lynchburg dealerships are seeing shifts

By Bryan Gentry
Media General News Service
Published: May 19, 2008

Riding a Harley in the Lynchburg area has its share of exhilarating moments: the breathtaking scenery, the fresh air, the sharp turns and hills on mountain roads.

Then there’s the thrill of filling the tank with $20 of gas and knowing it’ll last 300 miles.

Joel Smith, general manager at Harley-Davidson of Lynchburg, said motorcycles get anywhere from 45 to 60 miles per gallon.

He’s hoping to sell more hogs as gas prices go up. In the past month, the dealership posted a message on its marquee sign boasting “56 MPG.”

“People are looking for vehicles that get better gas mileage, plus a lot of

people are thinking about riding,” Smith said.

Car and truck dealerships in the Lynchburg area are trying to promote their gas savers and slash prices on guzzlers to keep sales going.

Looking into changing vehicles, or putting off buying a new one, is becoming a fact of life as gas prices continue to soar.

The average price of regular unleaded gasoline has broken one record after another this year. Last week the average price in Virginia reached $3.64 per gallon, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

Data from the Energy Information Administration, updated every Monday, showed gas prices averaging $3.75 or more per gallon in other East Coast states.

Some consumers are losing hope that there’s much of a light at the end of the tunnel. An unscientific poll conducted recently on newsadvance.com asked, “Do you think the price of regular gasoline in Virginia will reach $5 a gallon this year?”

More than 60 percent said yes.

When David Provost started selling vehicles at Lynchburg Nissan nine years ago, gas cost about $1 a gallon, which didn’t spur much discussion on car lots.

“Now a lot of people are bringing it up,” said Provost, the dealership’s

general sales manager. “It’s definitely an issue.”

For the auto dealer, the issue can be a good thing.

“It forces people into the market,” Provost said. “It stimulates people to get out of their SUVs. … They like their SUV, they like its size, but they would rather pay on a brand new car than on gas.”

He said Nissan’s vehicles with a continuously variable transmission — a gear-shifting technology that improves gas mileage — are becoming more popular among his buyers.

Kevin Hamlet, vice president and general manager of Billy Craft Honda, said the dealership is getting more business this year than in previous years.

“We’re actually having record months,” he said. “When things get like this … it makes them focus more on our line of cars.”

They’re benefiting from Honda’s reputation of high gas mileage, he said. The Environmental Protection Agency’s fuel economy ratings put two Honda cars in the top 10.

Toyota also has three vehicles in the top tier of gas savers, including the number one spot with 48 miles per gallon from the Prius hybrid.

William Farrell said Berglund Oak Ridge Toyota on Wards Road sells every Prius it can get.

“Even the non-hybrids are selling well. But the hybrids certainly have a lot of interest,” said Farrell, owner of Berglund Automotive.

Glenn Wood, president of Royal Chevrolet, said his dealership is going through a transition. “This is a shift for us,” he said. “We have been the leaders in truck sales for a number of years, and we’ve shifted to advertising more of our fuel-efficient cars.”

Chevy’s Cobalt and Aveo cars — which get more than 20 miles per gallon in the city and more than 30 on the highway — are moving more, he said, while trucks sell less.

Wood thinks the drop in truck sales might be linked more to a drop in new construction than a spike in gas prices.

“This is about our third gasoline spike that we’ve had in the past couple of years,” Wood said. “We’ve had less of an impact this time.”

While the local demand for small cars is rising, not all drivers are jumping out of their larger vehicles.

“Last month was the biggest Mercedes month I’ve had in probably two years,” said David Lang, sales manager at Mercedes of Lynchburg. “There’s no rhyme or reason to it.”

His dealership carries the Smart car, a two-seater that gets over 30 miles per gallon in the city. “They’re nice little cars, but it’s a toy, I think,” he said.

Larger cars are more safe, Lang said.

Wood said his Tahoe and Suburban sales are only slightly down. “People who are in that price range can pretty much absorb another dollar per gallon without as much difficulty.”

At the Nissan and Toyota dealerships, the manufacturers are offering rebates and zero percent financing on some SUVs to keep people interested in them.

“If you can stand the gas prices, there are major incentives,” Provost said.

He said SUVs are still selling.

Farrell said, “People have a certain lifestyle that they need a bigger vehicle, and they can’t sacrifice that for the smaller hybrids.”