Read more: Local, Economy
The credit crunch is taking a toll on local car dealers.
The National Automobile Dealers Association expects 700-dealerships to close down this year. That's no surprise to Pat Francis, who owns the Toledo Auto Finance Center in West Toledo. "My wife used to work here. I had a clean up guy, a mechanic and another salesman. There were times when we were moving 30-cars a month and were busy constantly. In the past year and a half, two years, I've had to lay all those people off", Francis says.
The problem is two fold. First, because of the credit crisis, banks aren't loaning out as much money. More than 94% of car buyers finance. Second, with all the bad economic news, cash buyers aren't spending their money. "I've been in business since 1993", Francis says, "and this is probably the toughest I've ever seen. People are holding on to the money they do have".
Francis says, he hopes he can hold on, too, until this crisis passes. "Oh, it's amazing.", he says, "I might just have to go out and get a part time job".
