Map of all the chrysler garages closed in USA

Owen

Scary scary times in the USA Motor Trade :

B00MSTICK

whoa

EPM

B00MSTICK wrote: »

whoa

More like whooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa:pac:

Rowley Birkin QC

Could this be simply the American car buyers finally wising up to the ridiculous cars their domestic manufacturers produce?

Is there corresponding data showing an upturn in purchases of non American marques that produce more efficient cars?

dutchcat

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK ME:eek:

unkel

Thanks for sharing, ned78. That's pretty shocking alright

rebel.ranter

Over what period of time have these garages closed?

Thoie

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/may/14/chrysler-close-dealerships
- They want to close 789 of their 3200 early next month.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/14/autos/chrysler_dealer_closings/index.htm?postversion=2009051410
- Chrysler's plans to close the dealerships must still be approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge, who is overseeing the government-led restructuring of the company.

Interactive map:
http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/storysupplement/chryslerdealerclosings/CA.html

L-M

Jaysus, that's madness. And if you consider on average 30 jobs per garage, that's a whole lot of jobs lost.

Hagar

On the plus side Google Maps flag manufacturers report a massive upswing in business.

mle1324

Jaysus,thats just bleeden mad:eek:

TomMc

It looks really bad on a map, but when you think of the population of the States (over 300 million) versus Ireland (4 million) - 800 odd US Chrysler dealerships would be something like 10 Ford ones in Ireland (Nationwide). One dealer closing in every second or third county is really only streamlining, not widespread carnage. Especially if it is true that 50% of US Chrysler dealers account for 10% of sales. Most private businesses work in a market economy (supply and demand) and with performance related pay. Some seem to think that the motor industry is some special case, where many should be subsidised by others, because they themselves simply do not pull their own weight.

ninty9er

Does the dealership network work massively differently there?? Why would the manufacturer have anything to do with dealerships closing?

From the CNN link:

For the automakers, closing dealerships is a tricky business. For one, Chrysler and GM won't save substantial amounts of money by closing dealerships, which are independently owned businesses.
At the same time, both GM and Chrysler have no choice but to greatly reduce their dealerships ranks, which have grown far larger than sales demand requires. The goal is a leaner, more profitable, network of sellers.

Not all dealership owners are distressed by these notifications. Mike Jackson, chief executive of publicly traded AutoNation, the country's largest dealership chain, will see six of his dealerships closed under this plan. AutoNation owns 289 dealerships representing various manufacturers.


"We were going to do this anyway," he said.


Over the past seven years, he said, AutoNation has gone from owning 50 Chrysler dealerships to just 17 today. Overall, the closures are good for Chrysler, good for the automotive industry, he said, and good for his remaining 11 Chrysler dealerships.

Thoie

ninty9er wrote: »

Does the dealership network work massively differently there?? Why would the manufacturer have anything to do with dealerships closing?

I'm not positive how it works here, but I'd always assumed that going to a main dealer here just meant that the dealer had access to the manufacturer's network, e.g. for placing orders for new cars etc, and also that they could get money for promotional work from the manufacturer (signs, posters, special "scrappage" deals, etc.)

It sounds as if in the US Chrysler actually owns some of the dealerships.

TomMc

ninty9er wrote: »

Does the dealership network work massively differently there?? Why would the manufacturer have anything to do with dealerships closing?

From the CNN link:

According to reports most of these dealerships are independent, family-owned businesses. All Chrysler have to do is revoke whatever main dealer status they have. It looks like many may not have water-tight agreements or contracts that would protect against this eventuality or possibly it isn't financially prohibitive for Chrysler to do so. Small print etc. Probably a much less formal arrangement is in place with dealerships going back decades, than would be the norm over here. Most are probably one marque operations and so then they are left without a new car sales business or much chance of getting another one (especially if their sales figures are petty poor). No difference in real terms to An Post or BOI closing rural post offices or bank branches. Withdraw dealer facilities and the individuals no longer have a business as it is unsustainable.

ninty9er

TomMc wrote: »

According to reports most of these dealerships are independent, family-owned businesses. All Chrysler have to do is revoke whatever main dealer status they have. It looks like many may not have water-tight agreements or contracts that would protect against this eventuality or possibly it isn't financially prohibitive for Chrysler to do so. Small print etc. Probably a much less formal arrangement is in place with dealerships going back decades, than would be the norm over here. Most are probably one marque operations and so then they are left without a new car sales business or much chance of getting another one (especially if their sales figures are petty poor). No difference in real terms to An Post or BOI closing rural post offices or bank branches. Withdraw dealer facilities and the individuals no longer have a business as it is unsustainable.

I wonder if Fiat will do a deal with them, it's the smart move.

TomMc

But if alot of these dealerships are not shifting home produced cars in volume, in what is a rather insular looking marketplace, it is more or less a non-starter. It is the wrong time economically as well, with unemployment and a credit crunch, to try and make America.

If the Americans were to broaden their horizons and fuel costs were to remain relatively high, then they would embrace smaller and more fuel efficient cars. But it would still only be in Fiat's interest to work with more successful (urban) dealerships rather than outdated, underperfoming (rural) ones.