The road to recovery: B.E. auto dealers cope with a sluggish economy by using incentives and other measures to drive traffic in their direction - B.E. Auto Industry Overview - Industry Overview

Black Enterprise, June, 2002 by Lloyd Gite

Winston R. Pittman Sr. is another dealer who has built his success on import brands. Pittman, who owns Winston Pittman Enterprises based in Louisville, Kentucky, has Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus, and Toyota dealerships. Last year he had sales of $154.3 million, making his company No. 14 on the BE AUTO DEALER 100 list. "Our import lines had a record year," says Pittman, who also owns a Dodge dealership. "They have new products and are very competitive. Our Lexus and BMW dealerships had a stellar year." Pittman says it was not difficult getting into the import business. With more than 27 years in the car business, he says it was all about networking. He plans to get more import dealerships and is training family members, including his son, daughter, and son-in-law, to help grow the six dealership business (see BE Auto Dealer of the Year, this issue).

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

"There are signs that the economy has bottomed out," says NADA's chief economist, Paul Taylor. "And 0% financing prompted a surge in the final quarter of last year. But there are some concerns. There were a lot of trade-ins of one and two-year-old cars, and dealerships have had an ample amount of those. That will provide stiff competition for new-vehicle sales," explains Taylor.

But if the economy stays strong, massive employee layoffs lessen, interest rates stabilize, and a new war doesn't break out this year, economists say new-vehicle sales will still remain close to record levels.

2002 Top 10 Growth Leaders

COMPANY                           LOCATION        2000 SALES *

BRANDON DODGE INC.            Tampa, FL              99.308
HUNTSVILLE AUTOPLEX           Huntsville, AL         29.000
MIKE JOHNSON AUTO GROUP       Chesterfield, MI       28.500
WINSTON PITTMAN ENTERPRISES   Louisville, KY         90.034
THE HARRELL COMPANIES         Atlanta, GA           268.547
JIM MITCHELL AUTO GROUP       Lynchburg, VA         110.000
PALANKER CHEVROLET            West Babylon, NY      121.595
SIM FRYSON MOTOR COMPANY      Ashland, KY            36.520
MARTIN AUTOMOTIVE GROUP       Bowling Green, KY     258.360
FREEHOLD CHEVROLET            Freehold, NJ          213.400

COMPANY                       2001 SALES *   % INCREASE

BRANDON DODGE INC.              242.062       143.7%
HUNTSVILLE AUTOPLEX              56.000        93.1%
MIKE JOHNSON AUTO GROUP          54.000        89.5%
WINSTON PITTMAN ENTERPRISES     154.263        71.3%
THE HARRELL COMPANIES           417.351        55.4%
JIM MITCHELL AUTO GROUP         170.000        54.5%
PALANKER CHEVROLET              184.319        51.6%
SIM FRYSON MOTOR COMPANY         50.453        38.2%
MARTIN AUTOMOTIVE GROUP         353.097        36.7%
FREEHOLD CHEVROLET              291.200        36.5%

* IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, TO THE NEAREST THOUSAND. AS OF DEC. 31, 2001.
PREPARED BY B.E. RESEARCH