AMA- Statement of ethics

It looks like John Smith has an issue on his hands. He is currently on the verge of bankruptcy which will leave 75 people out of jobs. The only way for him to keep his workers and not lay anyone off, he has been asked for the names and numbers of those who are most likely to buy a new car within the next 12 months. He definitely needs the money but the real question is-
is it right in selling the information?
John Smith could sell the names if he needs the money to save his business and keep is employees working. If he doesn't sell the information then he's leaving a lot of people out of work who need to the job not only to support themselves but their families as well. That alone would make me me want to sell the information, even if other sources say it's not an ethical thing to do, such as the AMA standard of ethics.
The AMA commits itself to promoting the highest standard of professional ethical norms and values of its members. The AMA also states that as marketers we should also do no harm, foster trust in the marketing system and embrace ethical values. We should also be honest, responsible, fair and respectful. It's important for companies to keep their customer information private and protected. If John decides to sell the information, then he is going against the statement of ethics. This will make people not trust his company anymore and when people have a bad experience at a place, they tend to tell a ton of other people. This could be very bad for John Smith's company because the customer relationship should be valued and be kept private. He is not being fair and respectful to his customers information that should be kept protected, not sold for $8,000 dollars to another company.
In the end he needs to do what is right which is to keep his customers information secure within his comany. If he sells the information he will lose all of his current customers plus a ton of future ones because news travels fast. He might come out with an extra 8,000 but after a little bit of time he will end up right back where he started but with less customers and employees.

It's hard to say what you would do unless you are the one in the current situation or dilema. Do you think there is a way for John to talk to his current customers about his situation and get some sort of agreement forms with signatures. If he talks to each person and gets their approval first, then only sends in the information on customers who said it was okay to do. What do you think about this? Is it now ethical? What if you were the customer and were asked if it was okay if they give your name and number to another company, would you be alright with it?