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Automotive News & Views Dude, where did all the dealerships go?
654 messages, Last post on Nov 23, 2009 at 7:56 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: nippononly (Jun 02, 2009 10:19 am) |
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an interesting little tidbit on the evening news: a piece on the only remaining GM dealer here in Marin County, which is a Chevy dealer at the far end of the county. It was interesting for a few reasons, first because I didn't know (or had forgotten) that the much larger GM dealer (which was Chevy Cadillac Hummer Saab Hyundai) nearer to me went out of business five months ago after only being IN business for a year. More interesting was that among other things they announced that the Marin Chevy dealer (a) has made the "cut" - he has been notified he will keep his franchise, and (b) is the only remaining dealer of any GM brands for all of San Francisco and Marin Counties (which neighbor each other). That's an area that includes almost 1.1 million people, the bulk of which are in San Francisco, and yet the only GM dealer in that area, the one they have chosen to keep, is 20 miles out of San Fran in northern Marin. I understand that right now this is an accidental result of dealer deaths that occurred in the last 12 months, but how is GM going to keep the business of 800,000 residents of SF with this one dealership 20 miles away across the Golden Gate Bridge? And this dealer, BTW, sells about 8 cars a year. They still have new unsold 2007 models on their lot right now. Not to mention they have Chevy only, anyone who wants a Cadillac has to drive 20 miles further, and Buick or GMC? I don't know if there's anywhere left within 100 miles to buy one of those. It amazes me that this is GM's business plan for dealerships. One plus of all this for the Marin dealership (located in Novato) is apparently the business in their service department has doubled. As the dealer numbers drop way down, it ought to be good news for the few that are left.... |
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Replying to: nippononly (Jun 02, 2009 9:51 pm) By comparison I have 8 Chevy dealers within 50 miles and 6 within 25 miles of the house. Too bad they don't sell anything I want. SUVs are still the vehicle of choice for most people in my area. We still have 5 GMC dealers that sell Buick and Pontiac for the occasional Lemko that drops in.
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Replying to: nippononly (Jun 02, 2009 9:51 pm)
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Replying to: gagrice (Jun 03, 2009 7:15 am) I feel for the mom's and dad's filing the paper work, driving the courtesy shuttle, typing the warranty paperwork and servicing the customers. These are the people that are going to be hit the hardest when most of these places start shutting down. Most of them have already cut back and laid off. I am not a big fan of Ford but I really respect what they are doing as a company. The big 3 should grab their notebooks and go to class. They could learn something that would benefit thousands. And when its all said and done. Isn't that what it's really all about. Helping others?
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Replying to: whatugiv (Jun 03, 2009 7:38 am) Successful businesses give to charity so as to help others, but the most successful enterprise is one that plays "hard ball" & when its all said and done, that is what it's really all about. Alan Mulally didn't get to where he is by helping Airbus when he was at Boeing. In the business world today, fierce competition demands toughness. 
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thanks to fezo for pointing me over to this site. fitzmall |
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Replying to: explorerx4 (Jun 03, 2009 2:10 pm) http://www.fitzmall.com/DealersAreNotTheProblem/DomesticDealersVsCarsOnTheRoad5-- 28-2009.pdf
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Replying to: gagrice (Jun 03, 2009 2:48 pm) That's not surprising. Back in the old days, there was a Chevy, Ford, Dodge, and AMC dealer here for about 7500 people. One by one, they fell out over the years until only the ca. 1919 Chevy dealer is left (it used to carry Olds, too), and that franchise may not be long for the world now. |
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Dealers have long had political muscle and they are starting to flex it. "I don't believe companies should be allowed to take taxpayer funds for a bailout and then leave local dealers and their customers to fend for themselves with no real notice and no real help. It's just plain wrong," continued Rockefeller who noted the roughly 2,000 Chrysler and GM dealerships being closed across the country put at risk more than 100,000 jobs." GM, Chrysler Defend Dealer Cuts in U.S. Senate (AutoObserver) For the conspiracy theorists, Rockefeller is a Dem. The bankruptcy judge is having none of it. Judge: Chrysler has good case for franchise cuts (Yahoo/AP) |
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