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Hurricane Irene Likely to Slow US New Car Sales

Hurricane Irene is still the top news subject in the United States, but besides the harm it does to American people, it will also have a negative impact on the local auto industry. Analysts and local dealers expect the hurricane to dampen new car sales this month, as people will be more likely to repair their damages than to spend money on new vehicles.

Plus, dealerships are also trying to get their vehicles out of the way of Hurricane Irene, most of them planning to move the car in safe places, far from trees and buildings that could collapse over them.

Only two carmakers, General Motors and BMW, operate plants that could be more or less affected by the hurricane, but officials of the two companies said there’s no risk of such a thing to happen.

“The plant is on four 10-hour days so there is no production on Fridays, nor on the weekend,” said GM spokeswoman Mary Ann Brown, according to Detroit Free Press.

Meanwhile, dealership employees are moving cars usually exhibited outdoors inside their showrooms and, in case there’s not enough room to fit all the vehicles, some of them are parked into open spaces without trees or other buildings in their vicinity.

“We have around 300 vehicles on the ground. I can put about 100 inside. The rest we will put in the safest places we can find away from trees and those flag poles. And we’ll park some big trucks in front of our big windows,” said George Brunath, executive general manager at Haldeman Nissan in Hamilton Square, N.J., according to the aforementioned source. “We took all the flags down this morning.”
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
Bogdan Popa profile photo

Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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