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Why American?
Despite gains in quality and design made by U.S. automakers over the past 15 years, dealers have a hard time convincing American consumers to buy a car made by one of Detroit's Big Three companies -- Ford, Chrysler and General Motors.
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"The market is so much more competitive," said Jack Fitzgerald, who owns the mall and who has worked aggressively to expand the number of Asian brands on his lots. "It was important to establish ourselves as an import company or else we'd be gone."
In contrast to the Chrysler dealership, the Toyota showroom is almost always busy. Toyota salesmen huddle near the front of the room to spot potential customers as they drive in or to intercept them at the door. Some are in constant conversation by cellphone, even when they have customers in front of them at their desks. The power of Toyota's brand reputation makes selling the vehicles that much easier.
Moving Jeeps and Chryslers, however, often depends on the discounts.
"Hey, buddy. This is Farshad. How are you?" Anvari said to a customer on the phone.
The customer wanted a Jeep Commander with a $3,500 discount and interest-free financing for 60 months.
"You can't get both. It's not going to happen," Anvari told him. To close the deal, Anvari got his sales manager on the phone to sort out the customer's confusion over discounts.
"For now it's tough," he said. "The business is slow."
Sometimes, Anvari and other Jeep and Chrysler salesmen blame their plight on Consumer Reports. The magazine doesn't recommend enough American cars and trucks, they said.
"Always Honda," Anvari complained. "They have some ridiculous reports. I don't know who their chief editor is."
David Champion has been senior director of Consumer Reports' auto test center for 10 years. He acknowledged that Detroit automakers had made progress in vehicle reliability over the years, but he isn't impressed with the latest vehicles from Chrysler and Jeep. He said the new Chrysler Sebring might sell okay with big discounts. "But it's certainly not going to take sales away from Accord, Camry, Altima, Mazda 6 -- cars in that class."
Bruce Nesmith, a computer-game designer from Gaithersburg, came into the dealership with his wife, Laurie, after a sport-utility vehicle sandwiched their car. He was looking for a small sedan that would also interest his teenage daughters. He searched online for car reviews, crash data and prices.
He and his wife had narrowed the list to five: Chevrolet Cobalt, Hyundai Elantra, Mazda 3, Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. After test-driving the Cobalt, Nesmith complained about the lack of cup holders and electronic features and the car's inadequate sound system.
"It was immediately obvious that it was far more stripped down," he said.
His kids didn't like it, either. "The Cobalt was seriously lacking the cool factor," he said.
His wife favored the Hyundai Elantra. It had considerably more features: defrosting side mirrors, active head restraints and lots of cup holders, even in the back seat.
In the end, the family chose a Honda, preferring its modern dashboard and the Honda name.
"Personally, I don't care about which side of the Pacific or Atlantic a car comes from," Nesmith said. "I want to know how safe it is. How reliable it is. How much of a good value I'm getting for the dollars I'm paying."
