Quote:
Originally Posted by The StraightShooter
There was an AutoStar not far from me. He was a Chevy dealer who had his store cut after only owning it for 2 years. He closed this past summer. I'm not privy to all the difficulties he must have faced being a wind down dealer but obviously it did not save him.
|
The only AutoStar store that I'm aware of on the West Coast was operated by Art Laws - owner of Timberline Dodge in Portland, an OLDCO dealer who lost his store due to Chrysler's bankruptcy.
I have a tremendous amount of respect for Art and his son, Alex, and I remember they dropped AutoStar after just a short period of time. I'm guessing Art and Alex saw something they didn't like and decided they'd be better off running their operation as an independent dealer.
I still like the idea of a Franchised Used Car solution that includes an emphasis on Service and Parts and targets dealers who don't want to be tied to an OEM.