Amid a softened sales climate for convertibles, with automakers citing retracted demand due in-part to the lingering impact of the nation’s economic downturn, specialty aftermarket businesses are raising their efforts to reach those drivers who still desire the wind-in-your-hair feeling that ragtops deliver.
Once viewed as a Beach Boys-blaring rite of sunny summer passage among teenagers and young adults cruising down Main Street – joined by hot rod buffs and European roadsters – convertible owners nowadays tend to be successful baby boomers equipped with the discretionary dollars needed to absorb the extra costs incurred by a convertible purchase.
And while some motorists are still buying OEM convertibles off the showroom floor, others are opting to order customized versions produced by aftermarket operations such as Convertible Builders, LLC in High Springs, Fla.
“Companies like ours have moved in to fill a niche,” says sales manager Larry Moran as he describes the firm’s “Drop Top Customs” line of in-house engineered convertible conversions that are conducted on a customer’s existing or newly purchased non-convertible model.
“The trend that’s opened up for us lately is the 4-door convertible,” Moran says. “You use words like classy and luxurious, but you wouldn’t consider a 4-door to be sporty,” he explains. Yet when a targeted model is transformed into a convertible “it’s not a big toad – it’s actually a sporty 4-door.”
The conversion process costs $18,000 to $21,000 above and beyond the purchase price of the vehicle being worked on. Construction takes four to six weeks, and 100 to 200 are sold each year. Owner and President Jeff Moran, who is Larry’s son, engineers the conversion specifics that are executed by a staff of eight technicians. A 4-door Cadillac XTS convertible is currently under development; a previous Eldorado offering proved to be a hot seller until General Motors ceased production of that model in 2002.
Conversion prowess
“A car has to maintain its utility,” reports Larry Moran, noting that the convertible apparatus is strategically placed to avoid encroaching into storage space. “It’s still sporty, but it still can be used by a family or to carry golf clubs.”
About 80 percent of the customers are men “who like to be special,” and they typically own a successful business, plus a yacht or a similarly high-end watercraft. “He can afford to buy the toys that he wants,” says Moran. “We constantly remind ourselves that nobody needs our product – it’s a want,” he points out.
“We ship cars all over the world, and we’ve done a lot of work with custom shops around the country,” Moran continues, adding that the company is actively seeking to expand its word-of-mouth referral network with the assistance of Jay Campana, owner of the Vero Beach Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram dealership.
Campana has been pitching Drop Top Customs’ convertible conversion prowess to the members of his 20 Group who have businesses in potentially promising regional clusters such as California and Arizona along with portions of the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast.
“It’s going to open up this market to more of the mid- to high-income customers,” says Campana, adding that arranging buyer financing remains a challenge. Most of the current patrons are wealthy enough to simply write a check for their conversions, and the customer base can be significantly expanded if the financing angle is resolved.
The Morans “offer an opportunity with their vehicles that you wouldn’t ordinarily get,” Campana observes.
At the Auto Top Shop in Feasterville, Pa., which bills itself as “your one-stop car top shop,” the emphasis is directed more toward affordability by serving the needs of do-it-yourselfers, according to co-owner Shane Halpern. “Car owners are devastated and even consider buying new cars when their convertible tops are ripped and torn,” he says, “and most don’t know that there are alternatives to garbage bags and duct tape.”
Halpern recommends “considering a cheap self-replacement option as opposed to a body shop,” and free telephone and email installation advice is provided to DIYers who purchase the company’s line of convertible repair products, which are aggressively marketed via the Internet.
“Convertible shoppers tend to concentrate on both coasts, even in colder weather climates such as New York and New Jersey, which ranked in the top five states of convertible purchases,” says Jesse Toprak, vice president of market intelligence at TrueCar, Inc.
The most convertibles are sold in California, Florida, Texas, New York and New Jersey. Alaska, Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana and Idaho post the lowest sales figures, Toprak says.
Going by the wayside
Among OEMs there are 51 existing convertible releases, according to Polk, and the specific offerings tend to shift as automakers add new convertible models while deleting others. The segment amounts to a paltry 1.51 percent of the cars sold in the U.S.; the current figure is the lowest it has been in the past six years.
“I don’t think the convertible is going away, but sporty cars are declining – and that includes convertibles,” says Tom Libby, senior forecasting analyst at Polk. Women in particular are selecting crossovers instead of the sportier models in the marketplace.
“The ‘starter’ convertible car seems to be going by the wayside; the entire convertible mix is skewing toward the higher end,” Libby tells Aftermarket Business World. “Your mainstream makes are just not into it anymore,” he explains, noting that the Mustang, Camaro, Chrysler 200, Corvette and Beetle convertibles are ringing up relatively decent sales because they are widely viewed as established and trusted stalwarts in the minds of car buyers. Convertible versions of less familiar nameplates tend to face a tougher sell.
Libby cites “a chicken and egg thing” in describing the paucity of more affordable convertibles being produced. Still reeling from the economic downturn, automakers have slashed costs and are reluctant to introduce a convertible that frugal-minded motorists may not buy in sufficient numbers.
“It’s slower to come back when you get to the niche models,” adds Mark Pauze, Polk’s senior marketing manager for analytics and consulting. “They need a price point that’s more attractive to younger buyers.”
In this day and age, a customer concerned with affordability is likely to put a lid on considering a ragtop when pondering a “daily driver” purchase. Practicality tops the list. In California and other warm and sunny climates, a convertible “can be good for the beach or work,” Pauze points out, “but if you live in Minnesota you’re not going to be making that same equation.”
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