The termination doesn't matter; just reimburse us

Posted 12:27 pm U.S. ET, July 21
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the dealer rights bill with hopes, from my understanding, that the manufacturers will work with the dealer body in resolving the pending issues before the bill makes it to the Senate.
From my many discussions with other dealers of terminated franchises, I think we are all singing the same song. Our concerns lie not in our desires to be somewhere w ...
     Continue reading "The termination doesn't matter; just reimburse us" » Jul 21, 2009 12:27 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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What Congress should enact

Posted 9:34 am U.S. ET, July 14
Recently in the news is word of a dealer rights bill gaining significant momentum in congress. If passed, this law would strengthen and reinforce the rights of all dealers.
This IS a good thing and definitely needed. However, what it doesn't address -- nor should it in its current form -- are the rules that give manufacturers latitude enough to ignore such laws while in bankruptcy.
I ...
     Continue reading "What Congress should enact" » Jul 14, 2009 9:34 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Closing dealerships an all-American problem

Posted 12:35 pm U.S. ET, June 29
Our GM wind-down has been nothing less than challenging. As I mentioned in earlier blogs, we have elected to shut down our GM point completely, as we joined GM in having concerns of the market viability in the area that we represent. (This differs from our strategy with the CJD point, which we are continuing as a used-vehicle store.)
Our largest challenge has been the inventory sell down. As we ...
     Continue reading "Closing dealerships an all-American problem" » Jun 29, 2009 12:35 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Doing what needs to be done now, and looking to the future

Posted 11:26 am U.S. ET, June 21
Friday was the day that General Motors set as my voluntary termination date for my four GM franchises.
In late May, I received a certified letter of confirmation with detailed instructions on the buy-back of vehicles, parts and special tools. Since the bankruptcy filing, I had developed many reservations about the termination process of my GM franchises, especially since I'm a terminated Chry ...
     Continue reading "Doing what needs to be done now, and looking to the future" » Jun 21, 2009 11:26 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Losing 7 of 8 brands, and making money

Posted 10:01 am U.S. ET, June 18
As the dust begins to settle on the Chrysler saga, I focus my attention on my GM store, where, as I noted earlier, I voluntarily resigned as a dealer.
I did this for two reasons:
• First, the market where our GM store is located I feel is no longer viable, and that concurs with GM's assessment.
• Finally, I knew that bankruptcy was imminent and I wasn't expecting a positive outc ...
     Continue reading "Losing 7 of 8 brands, and making money" » Jun 18, 2009 10:01 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Goodbye Chrysler, we're going it alone

Posted 3:08 pm U.S. ET, June 15
Almost a week has passed since our involuntary termination of the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge franchises in our Hartsville, S.C., dealership.
When we initially found out about the termination, we (including all employees of the dealership), as a team, voted to move forward without them and continue operations as a non-franchised store.
When looking at profitability, we knew if we just kept on ...
     Continue reading "Goodbye Chrysler, we're going it alone" » Jun 15, 2009 3:08 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Did Chrysler really achieve its end goal correctly?

Posted 3:45 pm U.S. ET, June 11
Here we are, two days after the termination that affected us, the 789 Chrysler dealers, and we all can't help but sit back and reflect about what has actually transpired over the past month.
Within 30 days, we've gone from "a unified team" struggling to keep Chrysler "alive" through sales and increased allocation allotments to the dealers on "the list" who are simply no longer needed. Chrysle ...
     Continue reading "Did Chrysler really achieve its end goal correctly? " » Jun 11, 2009 3:45 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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The end marks new beginnings

Posted 4:40 pm U.S. ET, June 9
"D-Day" has arrived for me and my fellow Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge dealers. This is the day that we were supposed to lose our franchises. However, because of the legal proceedings, the end has yet to come.
Our dealership planned a staffed event to begin today, a kickoff for a new preowned store, one without the new vehicles from Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge. But we still have many new units left, so we ...
     Continue reading "The end marks new beginnings " » Jun 9, 2009 4:40 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Where is the justice?

Posted 4:22 pm U.S. ET, June 5
For some that may not have read my previous blogs, I am an automotive dealer representing the “Big 3.” Of these, seven of my eight franchises stand to be terminated, leaving me with Ford.
I'm OK with this, as Ford stands to be the industry leader, and the markets my other franchises lie in are struggling, which makes me consider whether closing those points might be justifiable. Nonetheless, ...
     Continue reading "Where is the justice? " » Jun 5, 2009 4:22 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Less than a week, and many questions remain

Posted 1:09 pm U.S. ET, June 4
With less than a week until Chrysler wants to pull our franchises, I've spoken to many other Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge dealers as we await our fate. We're still waiting for multiple concerns to be addressed on how Chrysler, if approved by the bankruptcy court, will handle the estimated 40,000 vehicles represented in the market by newly terminated dealers.
Though they have graciously offered to hel ...
     Continue reading "Less than a week, and many questions remain" » Jun 4, 2009 1:09 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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My thanks to Alan Mulally for taking a different path

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, June 3
Thank you, Alan Mulally. That's about all I can think of regarding the current state of the domestic franchise system.
Thank you for having the vision to make the necessary cuts in operational expenses. Thank you for building the bridges in dealer relations. Thank you for not seeing the dealer body as a charitable or expendable asset of Ford Motor Co.
Several years ago, when Mr. Mulally jo ...
     Continue reading "My thanks to Alan Mulally for taking a different path" » Jun 3, 2009 12:01 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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The challenge that lays before us

Posted 2:10 pm U.S. ET, June 1
With GM's bankruptcy announcement today, the message we all knew was inevitable is upon us. It is the day where the real challenge begins for the dealer body.
We've all struggled with ever decreasing market share numbers, increased cost and decreased margins. Even though GM most likely will emerge from this disaster and we all will become better people for it, this will be a challenge, to say t ...
     Continue reading "The challenge that lays before us" » Jun 1, 2009 2:10 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Automakers ignoring their customers

Posted 11:29 am U.S. ET, May 28
As the body of people that represent the manufacturers for which we hold franchises, we get it ... we truly do. The big question is why don't the manufacturers get it?
With this, I simply mean that we understand WHO our customer is. It is the end user of the product we represent, and we must ensure that they are completely satisfied, correct?
For manufacturers, WE ...
     Continue reading "Automakers ignoring their customers" » May 28, 2009 11:29 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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What's a GM dealer to do after receiving 'the letter'?

Posted 12:07 pm U.S. ET, May 27
With GM's bankruptcy now appearing inevitable, I'm an auto dealer who “received the letter” who must now wonder if waiting until October 2010 to end my GM business is the best option for me.
As I have referenced in earlier blogs, I'm also a Chrysler dealer who was included in that automakers' termination list. I guess this is the downside to living in a small town.
Or could it be tha ...
     Continue reading "What's a GM dealer to do after receiving 'the letter'?" » May 27, 2009 12:07 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Floor traffic picks up as shoppers look for bargains

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, May 26
As I referenced earlier, I have been on a public relations campaign it seems since we got our termination letter.
I've had to do this primarily as a result of the media, which has been stating that the points are closing down and referencing which stores within their areas were closing, too.
However, the good side to this -- there always will be a good side -- is that our floor traffic has i ...
     Continue reading "Floor traffic picks up as shoppers look for bargains" » May 26, 2009 12:01 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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