The auto industry has been showing some serious downward trends. The big three automakers facing bankruptcy, banks less likely to lend for new cars and car dealerships becoming ghost towns as customers holdback fearing job losses

Although the new car sales numbers are dismal, a 36.4 percent drop in Dallas-Fort Worth, an article in the Dallas Morning News has found the silver lining:

Since then, sales have increased a little in most months. They just haven’t grown enough to regain their strength from a year ago. “If it keeps going the way it has, it will probably put us at about 400,000 sales for the year” in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Campbell said. “We’d still be down some, but we’d be among the top five markets in the U.S.” Area dealers sold 383,939 vehicles in the Dallas-Fort Worth area last year – in what was a tough year. Consequently, the 400,000 goal seems within reach at some dealerships.

Reaching 400,000 car sales for the year may be doable considering last year’s low sales; but is it enough to sustain the amount of car dealerships we have in Dallas-Fort Worth? If the car sales remain low, we could see more car dealership bankruptcies as car dealers run out of cash. That would mean more job losses for those working in the car industry and more empty real estate lots that most likely won’t be filled anytime soon. The reality is that as more Americans face job losses, foreclosures and reduced credit, buying a new car has become a luxury they can no longer afford. The high number of repossessions in Dallas-Fort Worth is a sign that even those who have new cars can no longer afford them. Everyone else is sitting tight and waiting to see what will happen. Bottom-line, the fear of job losses is preventing many Dallas-Fort Worth residents from buying big ticket items, especially if those items require credit.