HOW OUR PROGRAMS HAVE HELPED CLIENTS DURING THE CRISIS. ARTICLE FOR "STAR CLUB" MAGAZINE

The pandemic and the crisis it caused have severely affected the country's economy. This is clearly obvious in the engineering and auto sales industries. Since a car in Florida is a matter of prime necessity, our magazine turned to professional - Dmitriy Chernyak, owner of the car brokerage company PANAUTO MIAMI Inc., for comments on the situation in car industry.

- Dmitriy, how did the coronavirus affect the purchasing power of your customers?

- Affected a lot. At the very beginning, people suspended all their spending, because no one knew at all what would happen next. As a result, new car purchases were put off until more stable times, and they were hardly ever sold.

- But were the cars still being sold?

- Only those whose lease terms had ended and who had certain financial reserves were purchasing a car. They had no issue switching from their current vehicles to new ones.

- What happened to those who did not have such an opportunity?

- Most people, thanks to programs from manufacturers, received several months of respite, extended their leases and continued to drive their existing cars.

- How did your brokerage company support its employees during quarantine, when most businesses closed or sent employees on vacation?

- At that time, we just increased the amount of work. Many turned to us with questions: how to extend the lease, whether to change the car or not, whether to buy a new one. A large number of people thought that with declining sales in car dealerships, cars should be sold at huge discounts, and they called us, hoping to seize the moment. Therefore, PANAUTO continued to work in the same mode and never stopped.

- The temporary closure of many factories affected the range of cars production. What can you say about that?

- This is one of the most difficult questions for today. The lack of new cars is enormous. Many car dealerships don't have new cars because manufacturers don't supply the suggested amount. For those cars that are in short supply, discounts are reduced. But thanks to the fact that PANAUTO cooperates with all brands and models, we can always find an analogue of any car for our clients. We have the ability to search in other states as we have a database across US. Most of the time, we work with California, New York, New Jersey and the whole Florida. Therefore, if a client was looking for a specific car, we could always satisfy his request in one way or another.

- Could you tell us about the new programs that PANAUTO has created for its customers?

- Firstly, we have developed a clear algorithm on how to ask for a deferral for a client to lease a certain brand of vehicle. We have a definite answer to the question of what to do with each specific vehicle. Secondly, due to the fact that many could not pay for the car even after the end of the grace period, as they were either unemployed or lost part of their previous income, we developed a program for early exit from leasing. We became partners of the largest leasing transfer platform in US. If the client cannot pay for the car, he takes a deferment from the bank for two months, and during this period we find a new owner who takes the car in his name with minimal financial losses. We have opened a new direction - Swap Garage - you can explore it on our website. You can take a look at cars that are given for a short time period, as well as place your own offer out there.

- The world is gradually coming out of the pandemic, people are returning to work, their solvency is being restored. What are your forecasts for the development of the car sales market?

- I think everything will be fine. The past month has shown a good trend. People are no longer afraid of spending; they understand that they need to move on no matter what. Obviously, there has been a slight decline, but it has been far less than at the beginning. I am sure that everything will return to normal, because in Florida it is impossible to live without a car. Nothing terrible happened in the lives of most people, everyone somehow adapted: someone returned to work, someone found a source of new income. A month or two and everything will be back to normal rhythm.

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