Washington Metro escapes worst of Sandys wrath

Washington Metro escapes worst of Sandys wrath

In the Washington area, at least, the predicted Frankenstorm of Hurricane Sandy turned out to be much milder than most expected. Dealers in New Jersey and New York werent as lucky.

For D.C. area dealers, the worst problem was the lost business from two days when most closed their stores. The end-of-the-month slowdown hurt otherwise strong October sales nationally.

But short-term losses will likely be offset by longer-term gains as consumers who lost their cars”tens of thousands or more”start to replace them. That means higher prices for both new and used vehicles. Ricky Beggs, vice president of the Black Book, told TheDetroitBureau.com that dealers on the East Coast can be expected to raise the bid prices at auction. Used-car supply, which was starting to come back, can be expected to tighten again.

The number of dealers and the amount of vehicle inventory affected nationally is still unknown. As many as 800 Ford Motor Co. dealerships were touched by the storm, Ford CFO Bob Shanks told Bloomberg in the immediate aftermath.

NADA has mobilized its emergency relief fund to help victims of the hurricane. Dealers or employees can apply for aid, and others are encouraged to donate to the fund, through NADAs website.

Nissan said it would offer employee pricing and discounted financing to hurricane victims. The company has more than 225 dealers in the affected areas.