Following Hurricane Sandy’s path of destruction along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, dealers have begun inspecting the damage wrought by the powerful storm. In New Jersey, one of the hardest hit states, DCH group reported that nine of its 15 East Coast stores remain closed; meanwhile, Ford Motor Company’s chief financial officer, Bob Shanks, said in an interview with Bloomberg, that up to 800 franchised dealerships in the Northeast were affected by the storm and he wasn’t sure when they would be up and running again.
“Clearly this is going to have an impact on industry sales towards the end of the month and maybe early November,” Shanks remarked. However, he said that despite the destruction, “all of our plants and our suppliers are continuing to operate as normal.”
Dealerships as far south as Virginia have been hit by the storm, which has so far killed 29 and cut power to around 8.2 million residents in 15 states. Total Economic losses resulting from Sandy are estimated to be as high as $20 billion U.S., according to EQECAT, a risk modeling firm used by insurance companies during such natural disasters.
For those dealers that have been impacted by the Hurricane Sandy, the National Automobile Dealers’ Association has said they can apply for emergency relief funds through NADA’s Charitable Foundation, even though power outages and downed communications have meant that its still difficult for NADA to assess just how many stores will be eligible.
The association, which is based in Virginia, closed its headquarters on Monday and Tuesday as a result of the storm. NADA’s vice president, David Hyatt said that the difference between Sandy and previous hurricanes that have passed through the region is that this time “we got hit too.”
