By Mike Turner
Sept./Oct. 2012
Irma Elder is no stranger to difficult times in the auto industry. After all, as many people familiar with the Detroit-area auto dealership scene know, she was essentially thrust into the business after her husband died in 1983.
Still, from a business standpoint, the past couple of years stand out in Elder’s mind.
“There have been good times and bad times, but I have never seen it like the last two years,” says Elder, 81, the face of Elder Automotive, which has 14 dealerships in Michigan and Florida. “It may not be the same thing for everybody, but believe me, it’s the toughest two years I’ve ever had in this business.
“Have you ever thought you were going to see General Motors declare bankruptcy? Have you ever thought you were going to see Chrysler declaring bankruptcy? They’re difficult times. And even though there has been unemployment in the Greater Detroit area, we’ve never seen the unemployment that we have seen in the past three or four years.
“I’ve thought to myself, why didn’t I retire a couple of years ago?” she adds with a laugh. “Instead, I added to our dealerships.”
Not that she’s letting the economic malaise that has settled over Michigan and much of the rest of the country sap her spirit. She remains indefatigably polite to visitors to her flagship dealership, Elder Ford in Troy, remembering personal details about them and asking about their families. She also talks in superlatives about her family, the lines of cars her dealerships offer, her fellow auto dealers, the cultural assets of southeast Michigan and Detroit governmental leaders — but at the same time stressing that she is no Pollyanna.
“I’m not talking about myself, because I always say I came in through the back door, but I cannot tell you how much respect I have for these dealers,” Elder says. “They’re good businesspeople. They have learned how to survive and how to work hard. Many of them have been in business for many years, so it’s been a family business. It’s an honorable profession, and many of them are incredible.”
Although she didn’t disclose specific sales figures, Elder says business has been particularly tough for her automotive group’s luxury lines. Today’s car buyers are more frugal-minded, she says. “Our best line right now is the Ford line,” she says. “Not only because it’s Ford, but because they have wonderful products. Their products are excellent.”