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Old 04-29-2014, 12:27 PM   #1
XDCX
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Default Should GM be adding another Chevrolet point in Central Ohio?

In a well written article by Dan Gearino of The Columbus Dispatch the question of whether General Motors was justified in adding another Chevrolet Dealership to the Central Ohio market is explored. For a link to the full report - click here

What I found most interesting about the report was the illustration that was provided which detailed where Chevrolet Dealerships were located in the Central Ohio market and then compared Chevrolet's sales volume in the market to other top sellers.

Here's a copy of the illustration that was provided:




While I knew that Honda had a manufacturing presence in Ohio I had no idea that it had such a great impact on their market share in that area. Can you imagine the volume most of the Honda dealers are doing in the Central Ohio market? On average it should be over 2,000 units/store.

Concerning GM's decision to add a Chevrolet point to the market, I have mixed feelings. While I can understand GM's desire to increase their share I'm not sure that adding a dealer to the market is the correct strategy. That said, I do not know the market and would defer to someone who had more knowledge of the market and the strength/weakness of Chevrolet's current dealers.
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Old 04-30-2014, 08:19 AM   #2
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Along I-71 in that area, there is a closed Chevy point which had just built a new building when it was "wound down". It could have been just a exit or so further south. Not being from that area, I just remember driving past it over the last few years on my way north.
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Old 04-30-2014, 10:55 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 57years View Post
Along I-71 in that area, there is a closed Chevy point which had just built a new building when it was "wound down". It could have been just a exit or so further south. Not being from that area, I just remember driving past it over the last few years on my way north.
Based on the report I'm guessing the store you're thinking of could be one of these two. Here's an excerpt from the newspaper story:
Two local Chevrolet stores shut down: Germain Chevrolet on the North Side and Byers Dublin Chevrolet. A third, the Byers outlet near Downtown, was slated to close but its owners successfully persuaded GM to change its mind
I guess it's another example where GM and Chrysler have used their "once in a lifetime" opportunity to kill stores with OLDCO and them bring new stores to the market with NEWCO.
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Old 04-30-2014, 08:39 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by XDCX View Post
While I knew that Honda had a manufacturing presence in Ohio I had no idea that it had such a great impact on their market share in that area. Can you imagine the volume most of the Honda dealers are doing in the Central Ohio market? On average it should be over 2,000 units/store.
Marysville is the Home base for Honda in Ohio, most of the dealership in Central Ohio sell to the Employees and their families. Germain in Dublin for the month of January 2014 sold 300 new Honda's.

What is not mentioned in the article is the fact that Chevrolet is still down two dealers. In 2008 Bobb Chevrolet closed and the Germain location. So in 2008 Central Ohio had 16 locations. The bankruptcy closings truly netted only 1 lost point as of Jan 2014 with Dublin reopened.

Also Byers Dublin Location sucked. It was buried behind Sawmill Road, a Cadillac Honda dealer, a Shopping Center and a Movie Theater. So why would you want to get lost going to Tuller Road. The fact that GM is making them build the new location next to Buick GMC dealer will be interesting. Also I believe that Byers sold new Chevrolet's in Dublin after closing the point since Byers Downtown was near.

Another issue in Ohio is our 10 mile rule and there are two dealerships with in the 10 mile radius of this new point so wonder how much GM compensated these dealers to let the point reopen. (Maxton, Layman) Which this falls under "Relevant market area" in the ORC.

Last edited by ohiobuckeyes; 04-30-2014 at 08:44 PM.
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Old 05-01-2014, 10:28 AM   #5
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I thought Ohio and Kentucky both had laws that required a "point" to be consolidated into the adjoining "points" if a "point" was closed for more than 1 year? That said, the "relevant market area" would then include all the dealers whose market area then "encompassed" the new "point" AND in a METYRO area, this is every dealership in the METRO. The rural dealers rules are different when it comes to this type situation.

Also, as to the market share, since Columbus is the capital, could Honda not be arranging to title all statewide rental cars, corporate leases, and (most importantly), state owned vehicles in this county ?
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Old 05-02-2014, 12:39 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 57years View Post
I thought Ohio and Kentucky both had laws that required a "point" to be consolidated into the adjoining "points" if a "point" was closed for more than 1 year? That said, the "relevant market area" would then include all the dealers whose market area then "encompassed" the new "point" AND in a METYRO area, this is every dealership in the METRO. The rural dealers rules are different when it comes to this type situation.
Great questions. It's hard to imagine that GM could get all of the Chevrolet dealers in the market to allow a new point without one of them refusing to do so. There must be more to the story....

Also, I wasn't aware there were states with franchise laws that required the OEM to fill a point within a year or lose the point to consolidation. I wonder if that law is very common - I can't say that I've heard of it before?

If the speed of Chrysler's Dealer Placement process is any indication I'm betting that most OEMs would hate that provision because one year is not enough time to select/process a new dealer to fill a point.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 57years View Post
Also, as to the market share, since Columbus is the capital, could Honda not be arranging to title all statewide rental cars, corporate leases, and (most importantly), state owned vehicles in this county ?
Another good question - I don't know the answer.

You pointed out vehicles owned by the state of Ohio - do they have a large fleet of Hondas or do they have products from the Detroit Three like most of the other states do?
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Old 05-02-2014, 05:55 PM   #7
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There are some Hondas in use in Ohio, just judging from my drives through the state.

In Indiana there are plenty of municipalities that use Subaru and Toyota products that are home-built, but it's definitely the minority. Not a full enough lineup to truly make a go of municipal fleets.

Mitsubishi always touts their municipal vehicles at the Chicago Auto Show... being one of the manufacturers in Illinois they always seem to have some fancy Lancer Evo police car or similar at the show.
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