Fayetteville Auto Dealer Hummin’ the Blues

If you’ve driven past the Hummer lot at Fayetteville Auto Park and thought it looked a little barren, you’d be right. Though there has definitely been a marked drop-off in national Hummer sales, the gas-guzzler is hardly alone when it comes to declining demand.

Sales of all large trucks and SUVs are way down. In 2005 and 2006, FAP was selling 40 to 50 Hummers a month. Recently that figure has been down by about half.

With General Motors Corp. putting Hummer up for sale and strikes at two of the plants that manufacture axles for the SUV, its future isn’t certain. But one source told us that there is still a demand in Northwest Arkansas for Hummers and the dealership is awaiting a delivery of about 40 of the vehicles.

On the near opposite end of the vehicle spectrum, Toyota Prius demand has grown steadily, and is far in excess of supply, with a big spike in the last couple months. There is a backlog of up to four months for the hybrid.

One source told us the dealership sells about 20 of the cars a month, and could easily sell 50 a month if it could get them. FAP has a policy of never selling cars for more than MSRP, but prices on Priuses and other more fuel-efficient vehicles are nonnegotiable.

As of July 10, there were nine Priuses available on eBay, with bids ranging from $20,000 (with several days left on the auction) to $24,600 and four with “Buy It Now” prices between $26,995 and $28,000.