In the best of times, Brian Bakhtiari's Subaru store in California's Bay Area sells as many as 250 cars each month.
This March, Stevens Creek Subaru had sold 90 new and 22 used vehicles. Nearly two weeks of sales for the month were effectively erased when the Bay Area was put under a local shelter-at-home order that closed physical sales departments.
Down the street, sales revenue at Bakhtiari's Nissan dealership was off roughly 60 percent before accounting for automaker incentive money. Service remains open, but business is slower there, too: Service revenue was $6,500 one day last week, compared with close to $10,000 on a typical day.