Car dealers sell expensive items to and collect a lot of sales tax for the state and local municipalities. A $20k car pays out $1120 to the State of AZ and $420 to the City of Tucson. I’ve talked with big dealers  in town that have seen unit sales drop from 250 a year ago to 50 for the same month this year. Multiply that by the total number of car dealers in Arizona and you can see what a big issue this is. The big generators of sales taxes are the construction industry and retail sales.

A good friend of mine, Edmond Marques recently closed his Suzuki dealership. The drying up of the credit market was a major reason for his challenges. I’m sure there are more to come.

Tucson New Car Dealers Association
The new-car dealership industry in Arizona is a major economic driver, generating more than $18-billion in sales last year. New vehicle dealers employ more than 29,000 people in Arizona with annual state-wide payroll of nearly $1.5 billion, or 15% of the state’s total retail payroll. So to a large extent, as the state’s new vehicle industry goes, so goes the state economy. Ted Chapman, President of the Tucson New Car Dealers Association, has perspective Click HERE to watch the interview with Dana Cooper.