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Old 03-28-2011, 11:19 AM   #1
crowe
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Default Is Chrysler's Motor Village of Los Angeles violating State Franchise Laws?

“The California New Car Dealers Association says Chrysler is operating an illegal factory-owned dealership in Los Angeles”

“In California, manufacturers cannot own dealerships within 10 miles of other same-make independently owned stores. Motor Village L.A. is within 10 miles of three other Chrysler dealers, the petition says.”

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...303289981/1078
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Old 03-28-2011, 12:15 PM   #2
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“The dealer association filed a petition March 21 with the California New Motor Vehicle Board calling for an investigation and asking the board to discipline Chrysler, possibly suspending or revoking the store's business license.” From NADA

I wonder if it might have anything to do w/ Motor Village selling 27 Fiats this month.
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Old 03-28-2011, 12:24 PM   #3
steve_biegler
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I find it hard to believe that with all Chrysler's attorneys they missed that. But if they did HA HA FRICKEN HA!
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Old 03-28-2011, 01:29 PM   #4
XDCX
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Default Is Chrysler's Motor Village of Los Angeles violating State Franchise Laws?

crowe - Thanks for adding the post about the complaint file against Motor Village of Los Angeles by the California New Car Dealers Association.

I'm going to start a new thread and move your posts to keep the two topics separate.
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Old 03-28-2011, 01:52 PM   #5
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Default Massive rent subvention

Did everyone else see the massive rent subvention that Auburn Hills is allegedly extending to Motor Village?

No rent for six months and then rising from $50K to $90K over the next four years. The rent factor on that $30 Million facility should be $200K/month, not $50K. (I wonder who pays the $30K/month in property tax?)

Maybe Auburn Hills will subvent the rent for the rest of their dealers; Motor Village was supposed to be a test-bed for new ideas after-all.
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Old 03-28-2011, 02:06 PM   #6
steve_biegler
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I like how you think!!!!!
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Old 03-28-2011, 02:16 PM   #7
crowe
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“The petition alleges the dealer operator, Howard Drake, has no significant investment in the store.”
I wonder if capital loans for Mr. Drake will be written by CJD to show his investment.
If so don’t walk Mr. Drake. RUN!!!
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Old 03-29-2011, 08:18 AM   #8
Lakeshow
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steve_biegler View Post
I find it hard to believe that with all Chrysler's attorneys they missed that. But if they did HA HA FRICKEN HA!
Give those attorneys a break Steve, they've been busy ruining peoples lives!
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Old 03-29-2011, 09:00 AM   #9
CL Pgh
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http://www.autoblog.com/2011/03/29/r...-store-is-ill/
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Old 03-29-2011, 09:13 AM   #10
XDCX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crowe View Post
“The dealer association filed a petition March 21 with the California New Motor Vehicle Board calling for an investigation and asking the board to discipline Chrysler, possibly suspending or revoking the store's business license.” From NADA
Minor correction - It's not the NADA that's leading this charge, it's the California New Car Dealer Association. In my opinion, the NADA no longer represents car dealers.

Quote:
Originally Posted by crowe View Post
I wonder if it might have anything to do w/ Motor Village selling 27 Fiats this month.
Wow, I haven't looked for a sales report on DealerConnect - if Motor Village has 27 Fiats out for March it sounds like Auburn Hills is propping this store up with product too.
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Old 03-29-2011, 09:38 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crowe View Post
“The petition alleges the dealer operator, Howard Drake, has no significant investment in the store.”
I wonder if capital loans for Mr. Drake will be written by CJD to show his investment.
If so don’t walk Mr. Drake. RUN!!!
I noticed Automotive News revised their story and they no longer make reference to Howard Drake as being the dealer operator.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Howard Drake is a Chrysler employee who is in charge of the BC's MID program. In the past Chrysler's never listed the person buying the store as the dealer until the buy-out is complete.

That said, Motor Village isn't a typical MID dealership and that's the basis of CNCDA's complaint.
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Old 03-29-2011, 10:41 AM   #12
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Default I wonder how CNCDA found out about the rent factor?

I've been wondering, how did the California New Car Dealer Association know the rent factor for Motor Village? Does Auburn Hills have a mole?

I can't think of any public document or filing which would release that information.
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Old 03-29-2011, 03:33 PM   #13
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Default Who is Howard Drake?

Quote:
Originally Posted by XDCX View Post
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Howard Drake is a Chrysler employee who is in charge of the BC's MID program. In the past Chrysler's never listed the person buying the store as the dealer until the buy-out is complete.
OK, it looks like I am wrong....

I received a PM suggesting Howard Drake was recruited by Auburn Hills to run Motor Village of Los Angeles and he's not a Chrysler employee.

There is a Howard Drake who runs the Casa Automotive Group in Southern California, but the group doesn't have any Chrysler franchises. Would Auburn Hills recruit a non-Chrysler dealer to run their $30 Million Factory Store?

Also, what happened to the MID Dealer Candidate who was running LaBrea Chrysler/Jeep? (The LaBrea CJ point was closed and relocated to Motor Village - I'm assuming the Dealer Code changed too?)
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Old 03-30-2011, 01:37 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by XDCX View Post
There is a Howard Drake who runs the Casa Automotive Group in Southern California, but the group doesn't have any Chrysler franchises. Would Auburn Hills recruit a non-Chrysler dealer to run their $30 Million Factory Store?
The answer to this question appears to be yes.

I'm not sure why Auburn Hills would select a non-Chrysler dealer to run their factory store, but I acknowledge it would be controversial if they selected an active Chrysler dealer too.

What happened to the poor guy who was on Paragraph at LaBrea C/J? Wasn't he good enough to run Motor Village or is it that Auburn Hills has no intention of selling off Motor Village like a typical Marketing Investment dealership?
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Old 03-30-2011, 02:15 PM   #15
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...is it that Auburn Hills has no intention of selling off Motor Village like a typical Marketing Investment dealership?
Ahhhhh yes! Therein lies the lawsuit!
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