‘Not a profit, that's for sure' at South Florida dealership

For Gus Machado Ford in Hialeah, Fla., being able to stay open for both vehicle sales and service through a turbulent March wasn't enough to escape the blow to business from the spreading coronavirus.

Despite an uptick in Internet leads of as much as 20 percent, vehicle unit sales dropped 40 percent for the month, while service-and-parts gross profit fell 20 percent, said Jorge Martinez, the store's CFO. Overall March revenue for Gus Machado is likely to fall between $4 million and $4.5 million vs. the typical monthly revenue of $6 million, Martinez said last week.

That means "not a profit, that's for sure," he said.

Even with a money-losing March and the prospect of worse results in April, the store had not laid off any employees as of last week. Instead, it is seeking all the federal and state aid possible.

Gus Machado Ford applied last week for $1.4 million through the Paycheck Protection Program, an emergency lending instrument made possible by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. That amount would cover about 2.5 times the store's monthly payroll expense, Martinez said.

The plan, he said, is to use the money to maintain current staffing and "be ready for the pent-up demand when this all blows over."