Coming off a Record Year for Houston Auto Sales, HADA Chairman Chris Poulos “Very Bullish” on 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: RoShelle Salinas, rsalinas@houstoncardealers.com, 281-509-1682

Coming off a Record Year for Houston Auto Sales, HADA Chairman Chris Poulos “Very Bullish” on 2015

HOUSTON (Jan.13, 2015) – Like most new car dealers in Houston, Chris Poulos, Vice President and General Manager of West Point Buick GMC and West Point Lincoln, is coming off a strong year in sales – “the best since the recession began in 2008,” he says. “And I am very bullish on 2015 sales to keep the ball rolling.”

Poulos is the newly-elected 2015 Chairman of the Houston Automobile Dealers Association (HADA), and he has good reason to be optimistic. Thanks to strong sales in December, new vehicle sales for Houston region in 2014 set a new record with total sales of 373,895, surpassing the old record of 371,537 set in 2001. Last year’s total sales were a 7.5% gain over 347,859 total sales in 2013 and another steady year-to-year increase from a recessionary low of 218,710 sales in 2009.

These results track a strong recovery in national vehicle sales from a low of 10.4 million in 2009 to 16.5 million in 2014. Early forecasts for 2015 put U.S. sales at 17 million units, which would be the highest since 2001.

Poulos qualifies his bullishness on the need for Houston’s energy sector “to continue its run” in spite of lower fuel prices, and on the continued stability of interest rates. He’s also aware of fluctuating business cycles, particularly in the automobile business, and that sales increases don’t continue forever.

“There have already been some signs that the market is moderating from pent-up demand to a more normal post recessionary market of buyer’s that want to buy instead of those who have to buy,” said Poulos. “In today’s world there are also factors beyond your control that can cause things to turn on a dime. New car dealers have to be mindful about where we came from in this recession and not fall back into wasteful business practices.”

“I think dealers today are smarter and more efficient and in a good position to go with the flow with whatever may happen, whether it is good or challenging. But in the big picture, if rates hold steady, consumer confidence continues to build, and the energy industry stays at least brisk, it looks like 2015 is going to be another great year,” he adds.

The Houston Automobile Dealers Association will help kick off sales at its upcoming 2015 Houston Auto Show, January 21-25, which promises to be a spectacular showcase of new vehicles and technologies. Like the 2014 show, all 700,000 square feet of NRG Center has been sold out. And this year’s show will feature a new “Energy Pavilion” to highlight new innovative alternative energies and technologies in the automotive industry.

“In addition to an incredible array of exciting new car and truck models, as well as many fun attractions and events for the whole family, the show will also offer attendees even more ride-and-drive opportunities,” says Poulos. “Last year’s show had 75 different models that you could literally drive out of the building for a test drive. We expect even more this year.”

The Houston Auto Show is one of many HADA-sponsored education, training and community initiatives. Those programs include: the Motorist Assistance Program (MAP) which began in 1986 and has provided free basic roadside assistance to over 750,000 stranded motorists; the Automotive Youth Education Systems (AYES) “school-to-career” program, a partnership among participating auto manufacturers, dealers and select high school/vocational schools; and the HADA Scholarship Program, now in its 13th year, which awarded $390,000 in scholarships to 130 students in 2014, making it one of the largest scholarship programs of any association of new car dealers in the country.

“I am very proud of the active role HADA takes in our community, and I consider it a high honor to represent Houston’s committed new vehicle dealers,” says Poulos.

Poulos, a native Houstonian and proud graduate of Texas A&M University, started selling cars 25 years ago at Leland Lincoln/Mercury, owned and operated by one of Houston’s few female dealers, Evalee Schwartz. He has been with West Point Buick, GMC, Lincoln for the past 13 years.

Chris Poulos and his wife, Denise, are the proud parents of six-year-old twins, Nicholas and Jackson.

The Houston Automobile Dealers Association represents 175 franchised new vehicle dealerships, which employ almost 30,000 people in the Greater Houston area.

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