Page 53 - BusinessWest February 17, 2021
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  Jack Sarat (left) and Jeff Sarat are among many area dealers reporting strong sales down the stretch in 2020 and into 2021.
best years we’ve ever had.”
Every year, Presidents’ Day represents
the first big sales push for local dealerships. Sarat pointed out that Presidents’ Day as a sales event tends to be more of a Northeast
“
rebounded, starting with a strong finish in April, and then every month following kept getting better.”
phenomenon.
“In Virginia, if you ask about the Presidents’
Day sale for cars, they don’t even know what you’re talking about,” he said, adding that ‘Presidents’ Month’ might be a more accurate name because the manufacturers heavily pro- mote sales incentives throughout February.
With an already strong January in the books, Lewis approaches this Presidents’ Day under- standing each year is a different experience.
“Last Presidents’ Day, we had a great week- end. Some years sales are magnificent, other years we are slow,” he said, adding that he defines the weekend as running from the Thursday before the holiday through Presi- dents’ Day Monday.
Good weather is the key to strong Presi- dent’s Day sales, Rome said. Encouraging car sales on Presidents’ Day has often been a way
After [March], business
     Even with inventory delays, Lewis contin- ued to take pre-sell orders, so when new cars began rolling into the lot, nearly 65% of them were already sold.
Gary Rome, president of Gary Rome Auto Group, said the Korean factories where Hyun-
dai and Kia are made were fortunate, with only brief shutdowns due to COVID-19 concerns.
“Hyundai and Kia never took their foot off the gas when the pandemic hit,” Rome said, which set the table for a strong year. “Our sales increased nearly 20% in 2020; it was one of the
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 AUTO SALES
FEBRUARY 17, 2021 53
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