List of Chrysler Dealers closing

[2manyrocks]

Does anybody know what a typical dealer has invested in his relationship with Chrysler? Do they have to pay a fee for the dealership and some sort of ongoing fees to Chrysler or is it more of a sales relationship where Chrysler sells them products and then the dealer sells them to the consumer?

What's the expected impact to the owners of these terminated dealerships?

 

[Builder]

Dealers own the inventory on their lots. The manufacturer will not take the inventory back from them, even if they lose their franchise.

 

[Scooby074]

On a related note, Looks like 1124 in"underperforming" GM dealers have gotten the axe today. They plan on dropping 3605 by the end of next year.
http://gm-volt.com/2009/05/15/gm-to-cut-1100-dealers-today/

 

[EddieWalker]

I heard on the radio today that some of the GM dealerships that will be closing only sell 30 t0 40 vehicles a year.

Two things keep coming to my mind about these dealerships that are closing. The first is whether they made a profit or not. It really shouldn't matter to Chrysler how much of a profit they made, just as long as they made a profit. If a dealership sells 30 vehicles a year, but has such a low overhead that they can still make a profit, then I think they should stay in business. Either they are making money, or losing money.

That brings up my second thought. If they are losing money, and with both GM and Chrysler closing thousands of dealerships, I'm really curious why they were kept open for so long if they were losing money? I'm thinking that somebody had his head up his a** for an aweful long time for that many dealerships to be losing money. It's not like we're talking about a dozen of then nationwide, it's thousands of dealerships!!!!

No wonder they are both bankrupt, this is just another example of why they should be out of business. If you don't have the common sense to close down a dealership that is losing money, then you don't belong to remain in buisiness. If those dealerships are making money, and they are being closed down for some other reason, then that's also just plain stupid.

Again, with thousands of dealerships, there is more wrong with these companies then just blaming the unions.

I remember a dozen years or so ago that Nissan was up for sale and in allot of trouble. They were for sale for several years, but nobody wanted to buy them. Then they put a new guy in charge and he had an idea. He said that Nissan was competing against itself with too many models. They should only have one model vehicle for each market. One economy car, one mid size sedan, one luxury sedan, and so on. He then said that for each market, they will make the very best vehicle possible, which has turned Nissan around. It's just plain common sense when you hear about it, but for some reason, GM and Chrysler are both competing against themselves with some of their vehicles, and then against everyone else. Why is there a GMC half ton truck and a Chevrolet half ton truck? If they combined the two, they would have the number one selling vehicle in the world by a large margin. Since they compete against each other, Ford wins this most years with the F-150.

Eddie

 

[CurlyDave]

What I am reading is that fewer dealerships means less competition, so the remaining ones can sell their vehicles at higher prices.

Why am I thinking that this is a net loss for the consumer.

 

[two_bit_score]

What I am reading is that fewer dealerships means less competition, so the remaining ones can sell their vehicles at higher prices.

Why am I thinking that this is a net loss for the consumer.

There you go again, getting rational on us.

These dealers are independent businesses owned by individuals, parterships or corporations seperate from GM, Ford or Chrysler.

So one guy orders and pays for 50 cars a year out in Podunk, USA.

The manuf. gets paid when the dealer orders the car as I have been told. He 'floor plans' it with his bank but the manuf is paid. If they close that guy because he is too small do they really think those buyers are going to drive 50-100 miles to buy that brand if they also have to drive 50-100 miles for service, etc. Especially when another franchised brand dealer may be in the same Podunk, USA?

I like the fact that there is a GM dealer in almost every town I pass through. If I need them, almost never have, they are there.

Seems like to me the manuf. just probably missed selling about 30-40 of those 50 the small guy sold.

Do they think that having a mega dealer concept is going to make people want to buy cars or force them to pay more because of a lack of competition on price?

 

[ultrarunner]

My family is in the car business going back to the 1920's...

Don't know if it is still true... at one time the Dealer's Customer Satisfaction rating and the number of times the Zone Rep would be called in to address a problem were very important.

A big Dealer with lots of dissatisfied customers might not be as valuable as a smaller one with very satisfied customer base...

There is one Dealer that only sold about 30 to 40 Chrysler Products a year... they are, however, the expert on Vipers and stock everything available and helped to write Viper Service Bulletins... I wonder if they made the cut?

 

[Egon]

I'm wondering how many of the Dealerships to be closed are financially successfully.

In Canada I've heard about one half of the Chrysler Dealerships are going.

Slightly off topic but will any of the Institutions turning out the fellows who are proficient at economics be shut down as their product seems to be of dubious quality at the moment?

 

[Diamondpilot]

The cut of dealerships will in the end make the prices go up. Its a simple matter of competition. Now will this lead to loss of sales because of lack of local support and dealership presence? Time will only tell. If you look at Eddies example of Nissan that is what really needs to be done with both Chrysler and GM. The past management at GM especially wanted it all, and it did not work. They had cars and trucks under the same roof that competed with each other. I mean come on do you really need a Cheby, Saturn, Pontiac, Olds, and Buick that are the same engine chassis. These cars were nearly identical except for options. Just make one and put the best you have in it.


Ford was in the same issues a few years back but not on this level. They got a sharp guy from Boeing and he took the reigns. He came in and cleaned house. Quality is way up and they concentrated on what they did good. For example they no longer make a real mini van. I believe the quote was "The Honda Odyssey is the bench mark." Basically saying they can not beat them so they will step out of the ring. Now, because of some tough and smart decisions made 4-5 years ago they, Ford, are not in the situation as the others.

Have you ever wondered why the Imports sell so strong? Why can a little Honda dealer, 1/4 the size of a mega GM dealer hold its own or out sell them? One reason is a lean trim lineup. They carry very few models, very few trim lines, and nearly no options as compared to the big 3. This means its probably in stock, not a special order that will take 6 weeks or more. I bought a New Honda Civic in 1996 and wanted a Green one with Alloys, Cruise, and AC. They had 20 on the lot but none had these options. No problem, they are all dealer installed and I picked up the car 15 hours after making the deal. With the Big 3 I would have had to search high and low and probably would have had to compromise or wait for a special order. Most people want it now, and being able to do that sells cars.

Chris

 

[radman1]

Have you ever wondered why the Imports sell so strong? Why can a little Honda dealer, 1/4 the size of a mega GM dealer hold its own or out sell them? One reason is a lean trim lineup. They carry very few models, very few trim lines, and nearly no options as compared to the big 3. This means its probably in stock, not a special order that will take 6 weeks or more. I bought a New Honda Civic in 1996 and wanted a Green one with Alloys, Cruise, and AC. They had 20 on the lot but none had these options. No problem, they are all dealer installed and I picked up the car 15 hours after making the deal. With the Big 3 I would have had to search high and low and probably would have had to compromise or wait for a special order. Most people want it now, and being able to do that sells cars.

Chris

I agree with you on the fewer trim lines with the imports. However, the ability to order a car with nearly exactly what I wanted and waiting 6-8 weeks was just fine for me. The manufacturer can add the options I want at a much lower cost compared to a dealer. Lots of cars have moon roofs, which I never use. Why pay $500-700 for something I don't want but yet I want the leather interior or something else that only comes on a higher trim level. The price for your added on A/C and alloy wheels was probably 3X higher than the manufacture.