Brett Hedrick (above) watches Greg Elrod service an engine for a Chevy Silverado at the Hedrick’s Chevrolet dealer in Clovis in this 2019 file photo.

Across the nation, auto sales have suffered double digit losses. With cars on the lot depreciating in value, Fresno auto dealers feel the nature of their business allows them to socially distance, and they hope the city will reconsider its ban of on-site car sales.

Nationally, for the first 12 days of April, sales of new cars declined 55%, according to J.D. Power & Associates — less than their 80% forecast. Some local dealers are seeing declines of upwards of 70% due to shelter-in-place orders. And expanded limits from the City of Fresno may be putting extra pressure on car lots within city limits.

While auto sales were considered essential, the City of Fresno mandated that those sales can only be done electronically and that vehicles be delivered to customers’ homes. Showrooms and lots were all closed to customers.

In the age of technology, movement has already been toward online sales, but the movement was more sudden than expected.

At Own A Car Fresno, the owners laid off 90% of staff. The only staff able to stay were those who had the technological “savvy” to be able to sell online, said Maddy Jawad, general manager. He employs a lot of older sales people and many had trouble adjusting to online sales.

“We’re used to customers walking on the lot,” Jawad said.

Customers are also having to get used to the transition. Many of the clientele going to Mercedes-Benz of Fresno are older, said Scott Biehl, owner and dealer principal. Research may be done online, but the mentality of being able to go inside and kick the tires still pervades a buyer’s mindset.

Cities throughout Fresno County, even as close as Clovis, are able to able to sell in-person, as long as social distancing guidelines are met. One dealer said people are still coming into the showroom and onto the lot. Appointments are being made to meet people and show them cars.

Jawad says he has lost a lot of business to Clovis dealerships merely because they can see people in-person. At Own-A-Car, business is down 65%.

Car sales lend themselves to social distancing measures, says Biehl. The Mercedes lot takes about five acres and they usually have no more than two or three people at a time, he said. Cars are sanitized between customers and salespeople wear masks and gloves.

“It’s very easy to show someone a car and be six feet away from them and still have a conversation,” Biehl said. Even for test drives, cars can be driven without an employee with a written agreement.

On Saturday, Biehl contacted Fresno Mayor Lee Brand about relaxing some of the guidelines to operate in the city. For his part, Brand said businesses can petition the City of Fresno to review and update its policies on essential and non-essential businesses, according to Mark Standriff, communications director for the City.

Sporting goods stores as well as craft stores were permitted to operate, with some restrictions after complaints were raised by businesses and customers.

It’s not just city measures making it difficult to sell.

Jawad said that because of layoffs at banks, it’s harder to get financing for customers. On top of limited access to banks, for people not working, banks have become a lot more scrutinizing about financing car sales.

“If you’re at a restaurant, you’re definitely not getting a loan,” Jawad said.

And cars need to get off the lot. A car can lose $1,000 a week in value. Dealers buy those cars assuming they can be sold at a certain price.

Some used cars have lost as much as 10-20% of their value, said Biehl. And those lost values are compounded when the time it takes to get a car off the lot is 30% of what it was at a normal time.

“This is a recession in my eyes,” Jawad said. “There will be a lot of dealerships that will not make it out of this.”