Holiday BBQs Still Sell Cars

Hot dogs, apple pie and lots of unsold Chevrolets are on the Memorial Day menu at Bill Stasek Chevrolet in Wheeling, Ill., while Raymond Chevrolet in Antioch, Ill., is planning barbecues.

We’re not certain whether food soothes the savage beast, but it apparently helps sell cars by the holidays. As they’ve done for years, dealers are planning cookouts to get folks into their showrooms by the holiday weekend.

"Whether it’s furniture or cars, consumers are conditioned to sales and lots of hoopla by holiday weekends," said Mark Scarpelli, owner of Raymond Chevy in Antioch.

Brad Tuftin, general sales manager at Stasek Chevrolet, agrees.

"The Memorial Day holiday brings in citizens who simply were driving by who decide to stop in and take a look," he said.

So a hotdog on a bun and a slice of apple pie on a plate can actually attract customers?

"Sales on a Memorial Day or Labor Day weekend will be 12-15% higher than any other normal weekend," Tuftin said. 

It helps, of course, that in the moment it takes to finish a hot dog
or hamburger, a good salesman can detail the merits of any vehicle he
has in stock with

"It helps, of course, too, that the factory always has incentives
going on holiday weekends," Scarpelli said of the rebates and
discount-financing programs that are common industry-wide.

Dealers say the price of gas could plus prove a blessing that weekend.

"It looks like $4 for a gallon of gas was the magic number to
convince humans that high prices aren’t going absent," said John Hennessy
of River Oaks Ford in Calumet City, Ill.

Hennessy said that, in keeping with the holiday, a 29-foot Uncle Sam balloon will be their lure to draw folks onto the lot.

"On Saturday public are going to spend day with the family, but
Monday is the day they’ll shop, and when they see something that says
‘fun,’ it attracts their attention, like the 29-foot balloon, and they
tend to stop in,” he said. "With $4 gas and the shift out of big SUVs,
we expect them to look at high-mileage cars considering they’re tired of
spending $100 to fill the tank."