GM dealers signal raising customer anxiety

PanARMENIAN.Net - An ignition switch defect linked to deadly crashes and mounting recalls are raising anxiety in General Motors Co showrooms, according to dealers who increasingly are fielding calls from customers concerned about the safety of GM cars, Reuters reported.

The Ancira Auto Group in San Antonio, Texas, expected a banner March after a strong February, but it came up 28 vehicles short of its goal of selling 200 cars and trucks, Vice President April Ancira said in an email.

GM Chief Executive Mary Barra on Wednesday endured a withering attack at a U.S. Senate hearing that opened with accusations that the company fostered "a culture of cover-up", and Ancira said the bad news centered on the ignition switch issue contributed to her group's sales miss.

"It will take some time for the brand to gain back the customers it lost," she said. "But I have got to believe that General Motors will use this opportunity to really focus on improving the safety of their product."

Interviews with more than 20 U.S. GM dealerships this week revealed concerns that sales would be pressured, even in a recovering auto market. Dealers also made clear there's an escalating number of jittery current GM owners, and demands for repairs threaten to clog some repair facilities.

"They are calling for information. People are a little confused about what they need to do. There are a lot of these cars out there," said Al Belford, fixed operations director at Ed Bozarth Chevrolet in Las Vegas, which has been getting about 50 customer calls a day for the last three weeks.

Jacqueline Aguilar, service coordinator at Brickell Buick GMC in Miami, said the dealership handles was getting up to 40 calls a day between 2 pm and 6 pm.

Holland, Michigan's DeNooyer Chevrolet has been getting 10-15 calls per day, sales manager Dominique DeNooyer told local television, adding that the dealership was finding the "influx" of people challenging.

Since February, GM has recalled 2.6 million vehicles due to concerns about ignition switches that unexpectedly turn off engines during operation and leave airbags, power steering and power brakes inoperable. And so far this year, GM has recalled a total of nearly 7 million vehicles, or about the same number recalled in the previous four years combined.

At GM dealerships near the major U.S. cities of Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Antonio, managers agreed they were spending a lot more time allaying customer concerns. They reported offering more rental cars, agreeing to more trade-ins and telling customers to lighten their key chains.

Several dealership executives conceded the bad news is distracting their teams from making their sales pitch in the showroom.

Some customers, however, don't want to wait weeks for their cars to be repaired. GM has offered some incentives for trade-ins and dealers say the offer is being taken up.