According to reporting by Nasdaq and CNBC, U.S. auto sales are falling across the board. Meanwhile, auto companies are trying to shift sales online to make up for the loss of in-person sales, and some are offering 0% financing for qualified buyers.
Toyota Motor North America (NYSE: TM) saw a decrease of 36.9% in the number of vehicles sold in March year-over-year. Lexus saw a drop of 46.7% year-over-year by volume sold; Nissan Group (OTC: NSANY) reported a sales decrease of 29.6% by units-sold in the first quarter; BMW of North America (OTC: BMWYY) saw a 15.3% decrease in total sales for the first quarter; MINI brands decreased 15.3% in sales in March; Hyundai Motor (OTC: HYMTF) global sales dropped 20.9%; American Honda (NYSE: HMC) saw a decrease of 48% in sales for March; and Volkswagen of America Inc. (OTC: VWAGY) reported a drop of 13% year-over-year in their first-quarter sales by unit.
"Clearly, there is significant economic damage occurring as we speak," Thomas King, chief product officer and president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power told CNBC. J.D. Power expects sales to drop to near-recession levels.
To combat these increasingly concerning sales numbers, car manufacturers are attempting to attract customers via online sales, referred to as 'Shop, Click, Drive' by General Motors (NYSE: GM). Online purchasing has been available since 2013 for many producers but has been viewed skeptically until now by dealerships who saw it as a threat to their traditional sales practice. Now dealership owners are haling online sales as their saving grace.
"It has taken on great importance recently. There's a lot of good going to come out of this, forcing the network to get into the 21st century overnight and learn how to do more online sales. ... Everybody's being forced into this," Mike Bowsher, owner of Carl Black Automotive Group, told CNBC.
In other efforts to attract buyers, GM and Fiat-Chrysler Auto. (NYSE: FCAU) are offering 0% financing and a 90-day deferment of payments for buyers they judge are well-qualified. Ford (NYSE: F), Honda, Genesis and Nissan are also offering qualified buyers deferred payment options. Despite these efforts, sales are expected to get worse before they get better.
"Our expectation is that it gets worse from here," Cox Automotive Chief Economist Charles Chesbrough told CNBC on Wednesday. "The news is going to get really bad."
If the stay-at-home orders in place across the country are lifted, auto-execs say there is a chance the industry will recover rapidly. Low gas prices and the effects of the stimulus package could help a lot. However, if the orders remain into the summer, the auto industry and the rest of the economy may be crippled.
"This is a very, very difficult environment," said King. "Once we get through this, there's a lot of ingredients to suggest that we could see a very strong V-shaped recovery."