This is probably more fair for the dealerships being cut... at least they won't get the 'lame duck' tag slapped on them making customers run away.

On the flip side, I guess the customers could complain about buying from a dealership that wont be there in a short while...

 

1100 G.M. dealerships are being closed.

 

I just looked at that list, both of the remaining Dodge dealers in Winchester, VA are being shut out. One sells Kias and might stay open, the other is out of luck. A third Dodge /Jeep dealer shut down at the end of last year.

 

I'm dissapointed that GM won't be releasing the dealer names. I'd like to see what local dealers will be effected.

 

What's going to be really dumb and I am sure GM is too stupid to look even though they now have a list of where their competition is closing dealers.

So maybe before you had a GM and chrysler dealer right next to eachother.
Each stole sales from the other so the GM dealer might not be high ranked.
Now that the competition is gone that 'bad' GM dealer might move up in sales due to lack of competition in the area.

Again this is something they should look at before choosing who to close, but I am positive they aren't smart enough and they'll just look at past history and go well sales were low lets close them.

 

I imagine there's somewhat of a fixed number of dealers that have to be eliminated regardless....would you rather the historically successful dealers get the axe instead?

I understand and agree with your point, but it's way past time for the rubber to hit the road. They need to actually DO something (as opposed to sit and plan and strategize and evaluate and consider...), and they need to do it NOW.

 

Looks like all that will be left in Charleston is Hoover Dodge in Summerville and Rick Hendrick Dodge in North Charleston. There's a dealership less than two miles from where I work that's going to be shutting down, and the other two are on the Savannah Highway "auto mile" in Charleston. That's a solid mile-plus of car dealerships that has already taken a hit. I believe the Subaru dealership is closing up shop, and I know there have been others around here that have gone away as well.

http://www.charlestonwiki.org/Auto_Mile

 

Hello Everyone,

First off, I'd like to personally thank CLEAN, Z28x and HuJass for their kind PM's last night and this morning. I had no idea people were watching my career track so closely

Jason was close as to where I work...I actually work for one of Bertera's competitors I work for Brown Motors (Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep) in Greenfield MA, and yes, we're safe. I went out last night and celebrated pretty hard The dealer principal was laughing at me this morning because I was wigged out a lot more than she ever was, but based on that list? She should've been...there are FAR more 3 brand stores than I expected to see.

The ONLY dealer within 60 miles of me that died was Enfield Chrysler...which typifies the kind of dealer that SHOULD die...a little podunk hole-in-the-wall with a lousy facility. What SURPRISED me was how many decent-selling, yet single-branded, franchises remain. We have 2 great stand-alone Dodge dealers within 60 miles, and 2 stand-alone Jeep stores, that I thought for sure were gone...yet they remain.

The Northeast did not get thinned out nearly as much as I thought it would. At the same point, there isn't an extreme density out here in Western MA anyway. Since I started here 3 years ago, we've lost a CDJ 30 miles west of us, 2 stand-alone Dodge stores 15 and 30 miles south of us, a CJ store 15 miles south, and a CDJ store only 10 miles north.

Again, thanks to those thinking of me. I'm still here...we're still here. Just yesterday, I had a head hunter who called me on the phone trying to get me to move to a local Nissan dealer. Its the second job offer I've had in 3 months...the previous was to take over F&I at a local Subaru store.

The way I look at it, I've come this far...I want to see this through. While a lot of people on here do not, personally I believe in Chrysler, the people who work there and where its going. Without a doubt, exceedingly painful contractions have taken place at Chrysler and its dealer body. In reality, like GM, most of it was long overdue. I firmly believe that given the time and money to debut its products waiting in the wings, combined with a thinned dealer body and some great new alliance products with Fiat, 5 years from now we'll be sitting here talking about yet another reniassance of Chrysler.

The head hunter thinks I'm a pure idiot for not defecting to a foreign franchise...but I can't do it. I'd rather go back to a bank, which is where I came from to come here, than sell a foreign make. I am the biggest flag waver you'll ever meet. I feel I'd be a total hypocrite to have sung the praises of domestic cars, and talked to many until I was blue in the face about the importance of supporting your country, and end up selling foreign cars. While I feel like bad luck follows me in this business (original job was with an Olds/Pontiac store, now this), I just keep plugging along.

I'm a very old 29 years old...but I believe some real good is going to come from all this pain. Sincerely, thanks again to those who thought of me.


Jason Emmett

 

Good to hear you're dealer made it. My father sent me the list of Detroit area dealers being cut and it's just hard for me to believe that we've gotten to this point.

I applaud your Pro-Domestic flag waving but that won't put food on the table and you'll be no less American if you had to go to a foreign dealer. This economy is about survival. That being said I too believe in Chrysler and in those I know that work there, for now...

 

Good to hear from you Jason. While these times are scary, I am still convinced that both GM and Chrysler are going to pull through - maybe not looking like we're used to them looking, but hopefully leaner and meaner.

I'm sure we all understand that, but I still applaud his stance.

 

Are all Chrysler dealerships union shops? If not I would be curious to see how many non union shops were closed compared to union shops.

 

Glad to hear you made it, but damn did alot of people just lose their jobs. So glad I got out of the autorepair industry.

 

You figure even if just 10 people work at each dealership (and that's conservative in my opinion) then that's nearly 8,000 jobs. In all actuality, you know it's a lot more than that. And that's only immediate job loss from these dealerships.

 

99SS,

I think Z28Wilson summarized where I'm at. If I HAD to sell imports? Well, I guess I'd have to. But if I don't have to, I won't. It simply goes against what I believe.

I understand Americans have the inalienable right to buy whatever they damn well feel like...
I understand that the import brands support Americans through dealer operations and manufacturing plants...
I understand that to many, bailing out the American auto industry is a sign of weakness that should not be paid for with tax dollars, and that simple capitalism should take its course and Chrysler and GM should be allowed to fail...

At the same point, while I'm not a Socialist by any stretch, I was an Economics major in college, and therefore am very sensitive to what this country, with its lack of pride in its fellow man and products, has done to itself. It amazes me how this society has absolutely no repsect for its fellow citizens. You go to Japan, or to Europe...most of those societies value buying their own products, protecting their brands at home with trade tarriffs and such. Meanwhile, we welcome China coming in and dumping cheap crap for us to scarf up. We put our own people out of work with our consistent, un-ending "race to the bottom," if you will.

It sickens and saddens me, because I know in my lifetime, I will watch America's fall from grace continue at an even more rapid pace. Real incomes haven't risen in over 10 years. Gee, I wonder why....

Think about that the next time you buy something. Support a local business, if you can. Buy American, if you can...before you can't anymore.

Enough preaching...to each their own.

 

You're preaching to the choir. I'm a former GM Employee, born and raised in SE MI and who just turned down a free company Highlander because it's a Toyota. My sales manager thinks I'm crazy. I've always said they couldn't pay me to drive their vehicles but really the car allowance goes into the Camaro fund. Besides the Explorer gets the job done.

I agree with everything you said and I too am sick to my stomach not just for GM and Chrysler but for my home town. I think of all my peers who came out of engineering or design schools when I did and how few are left working for our beloved Domestic brands. All we wanted to do was work for GM, Ford or Chrysler and everyone had their favorites. Lucky for many of us not only did we get jobs but at the brands we loved the most. I think back about our little pro Ford or GM banter and how silly it is now. They were not the enemy and by the time we realized where the threat was coming from it was too late. We were as nearsighted as our employers.
I've since watched too many of us have to make very difficult choices against their pro American morals and they are no less American loving than you or I. That's all I was really saying.

I applaud you and wish you the very best. Sometimes it seems like we are a dying breed.... especially out here.