08-18-2010, 09:21 AM | #1 |
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Plainview Dodge to close on 08/31/10
News reports indicate that Plainview Dodge will close their dealership at the end of this month. For the full report - click here
While I'm not familiar with the market the dealership's website shows they're a full-line Chrysler dealership that carries 269 new vehicles and 335 used vehicles. The news report indicates they're part of a dealer group that has other Chrysler franchises. Here's an excerpt from the story that caught my attention - Kevan D. Wilson, chief operating officer of Plainview Dodge's parent company, AutoInc, made the announcement via a news release late this afternoon. He said that as part of Chrysler's ongoing consolidation and restructuring produce, the local dealership has agreed to surrender its franchise agreements and close the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram Truck franchise point in Plainview, effective Aug. 31. "We have come to the end of a long process with Chrysler," Wilson said. "We regret that this is the outcome." Is Chrysler still trying to reduce the number of dealerships as part of Project Genesis or is there more to this story than what was reported in the newspaper? |
08-18-2010, 10:36 AM | #2 |
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Looking at the Google maps picture of the store it appears they have less than 50 total vehicles at the location (before closure). I am guessing that the numbers you refer to also include the Lubbock and Amarillo AutoInc location. It would be impossible to service a lot holding over 600 vehicles with the 8 employees reported in the story.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=plainv...N&hl=en&tab=wl Last edited by Txflyer; 08-18-2010 at 10:41 AM. Reason: added Google Maps link |
08-18-2010, 11:46 AM | #3 | |
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I'm still baffled why the COO states his company had to surrender their franchises and they regret the outcome. In fairness to Chrysler, it's possible the dealer group decided to close the store on their own but crafted their press release to infer they were forced to close down. |
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08-18-2010, 01:24 PM | #4 |
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I was through there several times this summer going to and from Colorado...the Chevy store there closed down early in the year, there is still a GMC/Buick store operating and a Ford store. the DCJ store in Slaton (south side of Lubbock) has appeared to be in the process of closing since last summer, but still has about 10 new trucks on the ground and looks like no used inventory. Is this the Lubbock store you're referring to Txflyer?
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08-18-2010, 01:48 PM | #5 |
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08-18-2010, 04:19 PM | #6 | |
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While Chrysler has stated they want to complete Project Genesis by the end of next year, I have not heard anything indicating they want to further reduce their store count. The store in this thread was a full-line CJDR dealership. |
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08-19-2010, 06:51 PM | #7 |
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It's sad to see all this. Whether they're closing because of Chrysler's direct manipulation or the result of the public's view of Chrysler in the marketplace, either way there are more people unemployed, more careers dashed against the Pentastar, and another community that becomes disenchanted with the brand. Nothing worse than seeing a dealership dry up in the sun and blow away. It reflects directly on the Franchise. Bad news travels fast and good news not fast enough. You can hear the discussions at the dinner tables in these towns, "Well Fred Smith Motors was around for 50 years...sad to see what Chrysler has turned into. Their products are not what they used to be, and Fred Smith just couldn't make it." I've heard through the grapevine, a lot of people in my old town say they'll never even look at a Chrysler product again after seeing what happened to me. A long slow death in a small town leaves a lasting impression. In their eyes, Chrysler took their local dealer away.
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08-20-2010, 06:55 AM | #8 | |
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08-20-2010, 12:53 PM | #9 |
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After i had already posted that question, I read the full story and saw that the "all American" stores in Slaton were also owned by AutoInc. So they had a string of all the CDJ stores all the way from Amarillo to Slaton...2 large metro areas and the small towns in between and adjacent to them. The "All American" GM store right next to the CDJ store in Slaton has a lot full of inventory...new and used...while the CDJ store is bare to the bones. Looks like maybe they are considering closing it like they did the Plainview location.
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08-20-2010, 01:14 PM | #10 | |
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08-20-2010, 02:23 PM | #11 |
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Since that manager left, it has been a company that exists as a host for the parasites in the industry. Chrysler had the biggest cash reserve of anyone when Daimler and Eaton wrote the famous "merger of equals" speech. Within 24 months Mercedes was retooling every plant they owned and spawned a dozen new platforms. We were broke.
Then Cerberus...then the US Treasury and Fiat. Need I flesh this out any futher? |
08-20-2010, 03:07 PM | #12 |
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yep...that was when it started to stop being a fun business for me...we still had alot of good years from a business standpoint, but the personal relationships we had built over 20 years were almost all gone in a 3 month period after the merger. We had the same Zone Mgr. for sales and the same Branch Mgr. for Chrysler Financial for the entire time I was a dealer until the merger. In the next 5 years we had 9 different managers in those positions. I got a call from the auction at some point after the merger, saying CF had kicked back some drafts...I called the new Zone Mgr. and went ballistic...he said they did it because I had exceeded my floor plan limit. I told him that was the first time in the 20 years I had been in business with them, that anyone had told me I HAD a limit of any kind, and that I had had alot more $$$ than that floored many times in the past. He looked at my file and agreed that I was correct, but said they would be operating more "by the book" in the future. Prior to the merger, I might be talking to the Branch Mgr. and mention I was buying a bunch of program cars because they were selling cheap, and he'd say "just do whatever you think you need to do". They knew us individually and knew how we ran our businesses...all that got lost, and I missed it.
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08-21-2010, 06:22 AM | #13 |
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Oh Man! Thank for that memory refresh. CFC was there to help back then. Without them I would never have built what I did in the 80's and 90's.
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08-21-2010, 11:56 AM | #14 |
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It's really a sad reflection on the direction things are headed, but I feel that we small town rural dealers are an endangered species.
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