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SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2020 | Special Advertising Section 1 R 10 AUTO SHOPPING By Al Kemp Special to We Love Local Imagine there is pent-up demand for a product you build, but because your factories have been dark, your supply chain is missing a few links. To make matters worse, now imagine your exist- ing customers have been slammed with massive job losses and are struggling to pay what they already owe you. And it is all happening during a pandemic that has claimed more than half a million lives. What are you going to do about it? That is precisely the conundrum that hit the United States auto industry this spring, and manufactur- ers are going to great lengths to steer a new course. After seeing sales drop by nearly 60% year over year in April, the industry is noticing signs of a steady recovery, with a 21.5% increase in sales fromApril toMay, according toVicki Giles Fabré, executive vice president of theWashington State Auto Dealers Associa- tion (WSADA). She says the auto indus- try is out of “intensive care,” predicting that the recovery would continue this summer. “Also, the fact that numer- ous factories are nearly back to pre-pandemic production levels, putting out much- desired trucks and SUVs, will help tremendously to Carmakers look to boost sales with incentives, technology cure low-inventory issues and meet pent-up demand,” she says. SinceWashington reopened auto sales to the general public onMay 6, the WSADA’s franchised dealer- ships have developed safety practices and protocols in their showrooms and in the handling of customers’ cars. Alan Anderson, president of theWesternWashington Toyota Dealers Association, says that dealerships are tak- ing precautions and follow- ing all recommended guide- lines in order to keep their employees and customers safe and comfortable. “In a nutshell, custom- ers can expect that we have less people at a time in the building and on the show- room floor,”Anderson says. “Pretty much everything we do now is appointment- based.” Before the pandemic, dealers were working to move more of the buying process online. Now, that effort has accelerated. “This has sped up the process [of moving sales online] for most of us,” Anderson says.“We try to reduce the amount of time a customer needs to be on the premises.We’ve put a lot of things in place to reduce time and keep our staff and our customers safe.” Anderson says that Burien Toyota has added plastic partitions and ample signage to the showroom so that people are protected and adequately distanced. All employees and custom- ers are required to wear masks. The showroom is disinfected daily, and the cars are disinfected before delivery to the customer or when they come out of the service department. “I’mmore comfortable being inmy showroom Continued on next page PHOTOS VIA GETTY IMAGES Automakers are offering numerous incentives on new vehicles, as well as improving the ease of shopping for cars online.