Author Topic: Chrysler and GM Closing Dealerships (Read 1208 times)

Sourdough · « **on:** May 15, 2009, 07:42:39 AM »

Our only Chrysler Dealership has gotten the word they are staying open. They only sell Chrysler products.

As for GM. We have Lithia Chevrolet and Cadallic, that seems to be doing well. We also have Aurora Motors, that sell GM trucks, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick. Aurora went through bankruptcy last year and lost all their import franchises, KIA, Mazda, and Mercedes Benz. In that deal they also lost their two big indoor showrooms, and moved across town, directly across the street from the Chevy dealer. Expect Aurora to go, or be taken over by the Chevy dealership.

Rustyinfla · « **Reply #1 on:** May 15, 2009, 08:49:50 AM »

They're closing something like 4 Chrysler shops along U.S. 19 in central Fla. U.S. 19 runs along the west coast.

I don't see the logic in it myself. You still have to have a place to get all these cars fixed. Personally if I have to drive 2 hours to buy a car or get it worked on I'll look some place else.

Questor · « **Reply #2 on:** May 15, 2009, 09:22:19 AM »

There have been some radio news items with interviews of dealers who say they will stay in business for Chrysler service. I'm not sure what else they'll do, but I assume these guys are diversified enough to make it work.

In my area there are lots and lots of Chrysler dealers so I expect some will be closing.

scootrd · « **Reply #3 on:** May 15, 2009, 09:32:40 AM »

General Motors will tell about 1,100 dealers Today that their franchises will be terminated
About 18-percent of the company's U.S. network will be receiving letters from the largest U.S.
automaker informing them that the company does not plan to renew their contracts that expire
in October 2010.

The closures could result in another 150,000 job losses on top of the 50,000 people already out of
work because of the dealer shutdowns that have taken place so far this year, according to the
National Automobile Dealers Association.

A total of approximately 2400 GM dealers are expected to eventually receive these letters.
GM said it selected the dealerships that weren't meeting objectives set by the company,
such as minimum sales volumes and dealer profitability.

On Thursday Chrysler notified a quarter of its' dealerships that they will be dropped by early
next month as it fights to maintain its' viability in tough economic times. The company said it
intends to shed 789 dealerships by June 9th.

Sourdough · « **Reply #4 on:** May 15, 2009, 11:51:34 AM »

I also heard Toyota is coming out with a full size, crew cab, dully, diesel, 1-ton, pickup. This is going to hurt the American companies.

Swampman · « **Reply #5 on:** May 15, 2009, 11:59:11 AM »

It will be built in America.

scootrd · « **Reply #6 on:** May 15, 2009, 12:35:06 PM »

Don't expect Ford Motor Co. to announce plans to close a significant number of dealerships the way General Motors Corp. did this week, a top Ford executive said yesterday. "Working with our dealers, as opposed to making an announcement in the press, we will proactively work through any consolidation efforts that we have," said Ken Czubay, Ford's vice president of sales and marketing. He said any announcements about dealers merging or closing will come one at a time, and not as GM did. Ford doesn't "have a gun to their head from the government," Krieger said.

mauser98us · « **Reply #7 on:** May 15, 2009, 02:11:44 PM »

Now that the parent company that own Dodge. Cerebus was ordered by the messiah to eliminate dealers,will the messiah order Remington to quit making gun? Cerebus owns Remington as well

ro · « **Reply #8 on:** May 15, 2009, 03:13:27 PM »

Yesterday,The Dodge dealership here got the news they were closing, Today the GM/Chevrolet got the news it was also having to close it's dealership, so of just these two dealerships thats about 50-75 jobs that are gone in a small town, not counting the bodyshop and parts stores that sold to them.

greg916 · « **Reply #9 on:** May 17, 2009, 03:14:09 PM »

Read an article in the paper about a delarship closing. The owner made the statment that it was not costing Chrysler anything, he paid for everything he sold. Makes me wonder why Chrysler would close them?

Siskiyou · « **Reply #10 on:** May 17, 2009, 07:24:24 PM »

Chrysler is sticking it to the dealers when it comes to their inventory of new vehicles. Chrysler says they have until early June to sell them. After that they have to auction them. A friend went new car shopping this weekend. I do not know the results of his shopping trip but he was not stopping at the local Dodge dealer who Chrysler dumped.

The wife's has a ten yearold, low milage Jeep and she has had it since it was new. It has provided good service, but we will not buy another Chrysler product.

I have a hard time feeling sorry for the dealerships because the act like a bunch of buzzards when you enter the lot. Maybe a little bit of justice in the Chrysler process but it is nasty. I do feel sorry for the folks that turn the wrenchs and provide real service.

billy_56081 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 18, 2009, 01:20:29 AM »

HMMM, I'm don't have a business degree, or even much managment experiance. I wonder how can you sell more cars by limiting the places you can buy them at? Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd think that selling more cars would help the carmakers dig out of this hole.

Hairtrigger · « **Reply #12 on:** May 18, 2009, 01:25:27 AM »

Fewer dealerships equals less cars in inventory and less copmitition between dealerships.
Makes sense from a corporate view

BBF · « **Reply #13 on:** May 18, 2009, 03:54:22 AM »

Besides a limited number of Imports I have had GM products.
My present one and only vehicle is a 2008 Canyon.

It may be the last GM I ever buy. I had to use my spare tire for the first time in many years. So I get the manual out, backed the truck up onto a set of ramps to get a bit more clearance to drop the spare( the 60 psi, limited driving type) .
THEN !!
Reading further along in the manual I found out that the gadget that drops and lifts the spare needs to be replaced !! Not good for more then one use

You got to be kidding me GM !!
They install expensive useless stuff like a traction control devise that can't be overidden and limits the engine to 1100 rpm regardless how far the pedal is depressed and then a spare tire hoisting arrangement good only once. ??!!

Ford is beginning to look good or perhaps something built on this Continent with an offshore name.

magooch · « **Reply #14 on:** May 18, 2009, 04:07:35 AM »

Now the question is, will the defunct dealerships get a bailout.

scootrd · « **Reply #15 on:** May 18, 2009, 01:48:54 PM »

I'm not a Ford zealot by any means..

Actually , when I was younger most of my vehicles were Chevy's. But years ago when I started shopping trucks the Silverados were too expensive , Ford made me the best offer so I bought it , years later ...I'm now on my 5th ford. an F-250 V10 .. Don't think I'd ever purchase another truck other than Ford,

I had never been brand loyal in the past, But the Ford trucks fit my needs and I have never had any major problems with them. Kinda on a slight tangent but when I read this I had to laugh out loud.

Fords in background of Toyota video
By Robert Schoenberger - rschoenberger@courier-journal.com - The Courier-Journal

It’s one of the most dramatic commercials for Toyota Motor Co.’s redesigned Tundra pickup. A truck drives up a steep seesaw, towing a heavy load and is able to stop on the way down, despite the extra weight. Toyota is so proud of the commercial that it posted behind-the-scenes footage to its Web site. That’s where eagle-eyed Ford Motor Co. fans notice something.

Ford trucks can be seen in the background at the job site. Calls to Toyota U.S. sales and marketing officials in California were not immediately returned this morning. The first truck visible in the video is a Ranger pickup with a camper shell on it. The next is a Louisville-built F-Series Super Duty truck. As the video’s director watches to see if the Tundra will be able to stop, the truck in the background is another Super Duty. The background issues underscore the challenge that Toyota faces in launching a truck in a market dominated by Ford and General Motors.

Last year, Ford President of the Americas Mark Fields underscored that issue by driving by the San Antonio, Texas, site where, at the time, Toyota was finishing the plant that builds the new Tundra. As Fields pointed out on a video posted to a Ford-run Web site, most of the trucks on the job site were Fords.

Side Note :The Ford Superduty trucks were there to tow the seesaw in the commercial.
The Tundra didn't stop the load as Toyota wants you to believe, The electric breaks on the trailer did.

billy_56081 · « **Reply #16 on:** May 18, 2009, 03:30:47 PM »

Quote from: Hairtrigger on May 18, 2009, 01:25:27 AM

Fewer dealerships equals less cars in inventory and less copmitition between dealerships.
Makes sense from a corporate view

I thought the dealerships paid for all the vehicles in thier lots? I still cannot understand the logic of Chrysler and GM closing dealerships. What would be the incentive of a buisiness buying a GM or Chrysler over a ford if the Ford has a dealership for warranty service 5 miles away and GM and Chrsler are 100 miles away. Won't less sales places mean less sales?

Time to buy Ford stock? ? ? ? ? ?

mauser98us · « **Reply #17 on:** May 18, 2009, 06:21:29 PM »

Quote from: Sourdough on May 15, 2009, 11:51:34 AM

I also heard Toyota is coming out with a full size, crew cab, dully, diesel, 1-ton, pickup. This is going to hurt the American companies.
[/

TOYOYA HAS BEEN SAYING THIS FOR YEARS

Sourdough · « **Reply #18 on:** May 18, 2009, 08:05:31 PM »

Heard on the radio today that Chrysler is refusing to buy back the unsold inventory the closing dealerships have. The dealers paid up front for their inventory, and own what is on their lots. With Chrysler refusing to buy them back, and no one wanting them the dealers are going to have a lot of new unwanted and unsold vehicles real soon. When the dealerships file for bankruptcy you know the courts will sell them at auction.

Hairtrigger · « **Reply #19 on:** May 19, 2009, 12:42:14 AM »

Much on the dealer's lots are on a program such as "floorplan" with terms meant so the dealer does not have to pay for it until after it is sold. In some cases there is only interest paid... much depends on the deal available to the dealership.

BBF · « **Reply #20 on:** May 19, 2009, 02:16:59 AM »

Follow-Up on my No 13 post.

I called my GM Dealer this AM in regards to the spare tire hoist. The guy I talked to was as much surprised as I was, especially after fininding out the price for a new hoist unit was over $ 200.
The parts guy wasn't aware of the situation so I told him I would re- read the manual, get the page No etc.and call him back.
After re-reading the manual portion on the hoist, page by page in a less then foul mood because I wasn't crawling under the truck this time, it turned out to be ONLY neccesary if the unit had failed to release the tire in the first place.

So, GM is back into my Grace.

Sourdough · « **Reply #21 on:** May 19, 2009, 07:59:30 AM »

Hairtrigger: What you say is the way I always thought it was myself. But a very good friend that was a Jeep dealer informed me she had to pay up front before Jeep (Chrysler) would send her the vehicles. She also said Chrysler would send out some vehicles without her ordering them. What they called forced vehicles. When these vehicles arrived, her line of credit that she had to have established with Chrysler was charged. So in other words the vehicles were hers, bought and paid for. Chrysler had their money.

A couple of years ago my wife wanted a Mazda RX-8. The local dealer would not order one, he kept coming up with excuses, and kept trying to talk her into taking the one they had in the show room. Wrong color, last years model, cloth interior, and automatic, not what she wanted. One day while just out driving around I stopped in at the dealership. I told the salesman I was just browsing, not looking to buy, just to see what was out there. Eventually I struck up a conversation with the salesman. I shifted the conversation to the RX-8s, and how it was strange they had one here in Fairbanks. The salesman told me the one they had was a forced vehicle. RX-8s just don't sell in Fairbanks Alaska, but Mazda forced them to take one every year. They usually took a loss on it and ended up shipping it to another dealership, or wholesaling it after it became a year or two old. The one he had was two years old, but he had a buyer. He just had not convinced her yet. Shortly after that the wife went on a TDY to Virginia and bought herself a new RX-8. Color, interior, six speed standard shift, and everything else she wanted. When she came home after driving it for two months down there, I got to take a road trip and go drive it home. Had a wonderful time.

45-70.gov · « **Reply #22 on:** May 19, 2009, 08:10:24 AM »

sounds like a good time to get a deal on a car

Sourdough · « **Reply #23 on:** May 19, 2009, 08:26:40 AM »

45-70.gov: I've been thinking the same thing. From what I have heard, when the dealerships go under the courts will sell them at auction. Be a glut of cars on the market it can force the price of cars and trucks down in this country.

gypsyman · « **Reply #24 on:** May 19, 2009, 08:37:48 AM »

I always thought the dealerships were on a floorplan also. I guess it just depended on what contract the dealer had with the company.
Wife and I talked about this last night. We both agreed that it wouldn't be wise to go with Chrysler product, as it looks like their going under no matter what. By a new car or truck now, and play hell finding parts or service 5 years from now. GM might be a better choice. Thing is, right now, she's driving a Honda, 10 years old with 135,000+ miles, and it doesn't look like it's dieing very soon. Very dependable, good gas mileage. Really hard to think about putting us back in debt, since it's paid for. And I've got 3 more years to go on my Ford van. We'll probably sit this one out, and wait for the next recession. gypsyman

scootrd · « **Reply #25 on:** May 19, 2009, 09:56:23 AM »

Quote from: gypsyman on May 19, 2009, 08:37:48 AM

I always thought the dealerships were on a floorplan also. I guess it just depended on what contract the dealer had with the company.
Wife and I talked about this last night. We both agreed that it wouldn't be wise to go with Chrysler product, as it looks like their going under no matter what. By a new car or truck now, and play hell finding parts or service 5 years from now. GM might be a better choice. Thing is, right now, she's driving a Honda, 10 years old with 135,000+ miles, and it doesn't look like it's dieing very soon. Very dependable, good gas mileage. Really hard to think about putting us back in debt, since it's paid for. And I've got 3 more years to go on my Ford van. We'll probably sit this one out, and wait for the next recession. gypsyman

Yep.. I agree with 45-70 Gov ..Probably be a good time to buy . byt were in the same boat , wifes Honda CRV paid for , two more years on my Ford Truck. Probably sit this one out and wait for next recession as well.

Oldshooter · « **Reply #26 on:** May 19, 2009, 10:59:28 AM »

OK the Government(obama) is running the show now. Dollar against a donut the there will be new dealerships soon and they will go to Dem supporters!

And now there are emmision standards coming down the pike, again. Pres says he commends Califorinicate for getting on board and looking for Arnold to lead the way for the other states.

Failed to mention that this green program along with some other stupidity had bankrupted Californicate!

And we are next top go down that road!

Now someone tell me he is not out to destroy this once great country, or at least bring it to its knees so he can fix things and get more power!

All in the name of saving the planet! But we know the real agenda I think!

torpedoman · « **Reply #27 on:** May 19, 2009, 04:27:15 PM »

It is the service department that really supports a dealership not the sales department. A small dealership empolyes about 20 people staff, support, sales and service. big ones a couple hundred think what this will do for unemployment figgures.