Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I figured I`d leave out my reasoning and logic and see what we could get going here. :-) This will eventually become an analogy, but not just at the moment.

Scene: The country is in an economic depression. Money is very tight, unemployment is high, things are tough, and you have a car dealership.

For the purpose of the story, you can choose the type of cars you`d like to sell. You could sell used cars, cheap cars, expensive cars, luxury cars, racing cars, or any type of cars.

Which would you choose to sell.....and why?

My first thought after reading the posting was: a Saturn.

Since I live in an automotive capital and know far too many people who`s incomes are dependent on the Big 3, I would only consider purchasing and selling vehicles manufactured by divisions of Ford, General Motors or Chrysler.   

If I were to sell vehicles the types I would want on my lot are:

• Vehicles which use alternative fuels
• Small vehicles with high gas mileage and inexpensive base prices
• A few all Wheel Drive vehicles and trucks for those winter Michigan months
• Medium sized vehicles with luxury features, i.e. heated leather seats, plenty of interior room, trunk space, fair to good gas mileage which doesn`t sacrifice the vehicles acceleration capabilities, a CD/Stereo Radio with Ipod plug ins, and extra cell phone plug ins.

I would want to keep my inventory levels low on any particular make or model. Unless there was a significant cost savings by maintaining a larger volumne of on lot vehicles. I would also like to offer a limited variety of vehicles so as to appeal to a broader consumer market.  Given the scene, I would anticipate the consumer behavior to react by looking for ways to conserve on their spending.  One such way to conserve on spending would be to purchase a less expensive vehicle which provides high gas mileage and has a good car insurance rating for low car insurance payments.

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Nicole Champagne
Email: influencialexpectations@gmail.com
Cell: (734) 262-3730
Soar With Influencial Expectations!

I would sell "Green" ~ any type of alternative fuel vehicles.  High demand - earth hugging

It would depend on the location of my dealership, if on the rich side of town; luxury cars, if on less affluent neighborhood; utility vehicles, if in a poor area used cars. However if the dealership just happens to be located in an area that would conveniently be just like me and go along with my personal preferences, I would sell utility electric cars.

Because we are in a depression, the price of fuel is going up, and there is growing demand for the product I sell due to lower expenses and an ever larger interest in the environment.

We`ll allow the dealership to be anywhere in the US.

We`ll also stipulate that you have the resources to sustain whatever inventory you require for your car dealership.

I`d sell bicyles.

:-) No...it has to be cars, in this particular story....

Oh you, just stealing my thunder!

My second choice was going to be strollers and walking shoes. As you can see, I don`t drive much anymore ...

We`re Saturn owners too, for the fact that they are cheaper, reliable, good on gas (but not like Hybrid expensive). So if I had to pick something, I`d have a lot of new and used Saturns. Except for that policy of no-haggling. I totally would have had them down on the price if they didn`t have that!

nhgnikole,

Although your suggestion doesn`t work for this particular story it is ironic you suggested a bicycle.  Recently there was a news article on the launch of a moped/scooter bike line.  These moped/scooter bikes were intended as an alternative to using cars within Metro/Urban settings.  Unfortunately I didn`t save the URL to the news article; but the concept fits in with urban smart growth concepts which encourage walkable, bikeable communities. 

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Nicole Champagne
Email: influencialexpectations@gmail.com
Cell: (734) 262-3730
Soar With Influencial Expectations!

Perfect ... mopeds are great! They have those bikes that you can pedal or put your feet up and ride with. I vote for those!