CarDealer123

Why Is GM Sending Ultimatums to Its Dealers?

I am a Chevrolet Dealer in Virginia. The mass dealer closings are really only possible in bankruptcy because bankruptcy law trumps state franchise law. What you say about the dealer's investment is true. It is also true that dealers don't cost manufacturer's anything from a dollars and cents measureable perspective. That is why there is so much outrage directed at the administration and the task force. While I am very upset at the manner in which they are retaining some of us. Basically they are forcing us to sign a very onerous amendment to the existing dealer agreement which basically requires us to sign away all our rights. It is absolutely unfair and unAmerican. The state laws that protect dealers from this kind of heavy handed-ness also make it nearly impossible and extremenly costly to terminate dealers who fail to live up to their end of the franchise agreement. The dealer agreement calls for the dealer to satisfactorily represent the brand in a specific Assigned Geographic Sales and Service Area (AGSSA).
How many times have you been to a dealer where:
the facilities were old and dirty? the salesforce was untrained?
the management unprofessional?
the dealer didn't stock a sufficient selection of product?
The service department was incompetent?
Most importantly, these dealers also tend to perform poorly in the area of retail sales which does cost the manufacturer in the form of lost business. The manufacturer spends a ton of money just trying to get on the consumers list of cars to consider. If he can manage to do that and the consumer's visit to the local dealership is less than a positive experience and he leaves the dealership without buying, the manufacturer has to pray that the consumer will give them a second chance at the next dealership representing the brand. Chances are the consumer will not. So you see, it does cost the manufacturer dearly if the dealer isn't getting the job done.
Any time a dealer like this is allowed to continue representing the franchise, he gives all dealers of that brand a bad name. As much as I hate the way they are doing it, this is GM's once in a lifetime chance to get rid of these poor performing dealers. They must take advantage of it.
The Chrysler debacle is much worse because their decisions on which dealers to eliminate seem to be unjustifiable. In some cases keeping the poor performer because they own the dealer's real estate or hold the mortgage on the property.

Chrysler, GM Dealer Termination Data: How Much Politics Involved?

Very interesting and unfortunately believeable. There is one other issue at work here that I have yet to see addressed. I personally know many of the affected CJD dealers - both the winners and losers. In markets where there was no clear cut obvious winner/loser, it seems that dealers who have their mortgage with Chrysler Financial or who pay rent on Chrysler owned property were chosen to remain dealers - those who didn't were axed.

Some Republicans Take Some Semblance of Accountability for Auto Industry Bailout

Here is a simple truth - I am a small Chevrolet Dealer in Warrenton, VA.

No matter what you think of GM and the auto loans here is a real true consequence of GM's demise.

GM owes my business nearly $500,000 that is due to be paid next week. That amount is nearly a third of my operating capital - If they can't pay, I will layoff 1/3 of my staff within 24 hours.

I will be unable to pay many of my suppliers who will in turn layoff many of their staff.

I have stopped advertising with the local paper - they have already begun laying off writers, editors, salespeople etc.

This trickle down is gonna get to everyone eventually.

Merry Christmas to you too Mr. Shelby (r) - Alabama

Say No to the Auto Industry Beggars

I am a Chevrolet Dealership Owner. I was having a really good year until the dredit markets froze and wall street collapsed. The arrogance of you people is beyond belief. I have yet to hear ANYONE working on Wall Street take ANY blame.

Anybody who makes their living on Wall Street and didn't see this coming 4-5 years ago is an idiot or turned a blind eye to it.

The fact is, the mortgage brokers came to the underwriters with bad paper. The underwriters FAILED to adequately assess the risk. This failure to adequately assess the risk was caused by laziness, ignorance or greed. In most of these cases, the risk was known and deliberately mis-represented to investors. You "Wall Streeters" couldn't wait to earn the commissions selling (misrepresenting ) what you knew or should have known were very high risk investments.

In a nutshell, the underwriter's lied and the "wall streeters" swore to it.
And now, all you "wall streeters" want to talk about is where is my next commission comming from.

Well, here's a news flash - NOBODY TRUSTS WALL STREET ANYMORE. That's why no matter how much money the FED puts out there, WALL STREET cannot be trusted with it. That is why the credit markets are still frozen despite the huge infusions of cash.

I guess the really funny / sad thing here is that you guys (Financial Advisor) just don't get that YOU are the ones we don't trust.

I predict that Wall Street will suffer a 20% or more decline in employment in the next 12 months. It will be intersting to see what your MBA in finance is worth in the real world outside of Manhatten.

Just How Sensitive Is the Economy to the Auto Industry?

Why has no one in the press pointed out that GM paid 37 Billion in Federal Taxes last year in addition to the federal taxes paid by their employees?

Is a 12 Billion loan request really all that unreasonable?

To verify: www.gm.com/corporate/i...

A Modest Proposal For The U.S. Auto Industry: Stop Building Cars

Ahhh...the ignorance of youth. You all sound like intelligent people, but too inexperienced in life to realize that all your theories never work like you planned and too many variables exist at every turn. You want what you want at the price you want to pay without regard to reality and are so quick to criticize and condemn that which you know absolutely nothing about. That's OK, you're young it's supposed to be that way.

The one real thing I hope you will come to understand is that companies who out source everything never create long lasting value and cannot survive long term. When you outsource you lose control, you put your fate in the hands of others. You only create temporary jobs. Contrary to popular belief, businesses exist for great social reasons than just making a profit. Profit is necessary for the continuation of a business but it is not the sole reason for it's existence. I assume you have a job, what is stopping your employer from moving your job overseas? Surely it could be done cheaper by someone else.

Are the Automakers Silencing Ad Supported Media Criticism?

I don't think any manager at any company has a problem with accurate reporting and professional journalism, but when your company has been bashed repeatedly by pseudo-journalists jumping on the bandwagon and spreading mis-information and lies about your company, you can only ignore it for so long. The problem has gotten so bad of late that these companies - the detroit 3, have to stand up use what power they have to put a stop to it. Its one thing to report the news and another to spread rumours. Here's a quote from one of the big three news anchors - "GM has ignored the market, built gas guzzlers that nobody wants and hasn't invested in new fuel saving technology" - Nothing could be further from the truth. Just how do you get to be the worlds largest automaker building vehciles nobody wants - in 2007 some 9.4 million "nobodies" bought GM vehicles. Concerning investments in fuel saving technologies - GM spends more in research and development of fuewl saving technology than any other manufacturer world wide - bar none. As for gas guzzler's - GM and Ford and to a much lesser degree Chysler Dodge are the ONLY full line manufacturers. The only ones who build commercial trucks in the 3/4 and 1 Ton range - these vehicles contribute to the overall average corporate fuel economy. Obviously if you are Honda, who doesn't build anything that's considered a truck by cafe standards you will have the highest CAFE numbers.

So if the reporting is fair and the truth is told you won't hear any of the detroit 3 complaining or pulling their ad dollars - it is you pseudo-journalists who spread the lies and untruths that do harm to this country and it's economy. If you want to know where all the money is that GM has earned - The GM pension fund has asset values in the range of 100 BILLION dollars.

General Motors: Time to Pull the Plug

I am constantly amazed by how little fact checking is done by the pseudo-journalists in the business sector. They hear something that’s not true and then report it as factual. Whatever your stance on the GM LOANS (not bailout) is it would be wise to consider the facts.

The most often stated myth is that GM builds inferior cars and trucks and that nobody wants to buy them. THE TRUTH is that GM sells more cars and trucks in the USA than anybody else. A million more per year than Toyota.

There are 46 Brands available for sale in the USA - these brands are owned by 19 different Manufacturers.

GM sells one out of 5 new vehicles sold in America. Ford sells 1 out of 10. They compete with 19 different manufacturers from all over the world. GM's fair share of the market would be 5% and it has 20% !!!!!! - Are all these journalists idiots?

The "free market" loves GM and Ford. These two companies are the overwhelming FAVORITES among American consumers. So how can any responsible journalist make the statement that nobody wants these cars or that they are junk.

They are not junk according to JD Power and Consumer Reports - The Chevrolet Malibu is THE HIGHEST QUALITY midsize sedan sold in America - beating out Toyota Camry AND Honda Accord and everybody else in the segment. There are many other Domestic cars that rank substantially higher than the imports.

Then there is all the bogus reporting that GM builds all these gas guzzlers - The fact is that either GM or Ford has the BEST fuel economy in every gasoline powered segment that they compete in.

Then there is more inaccurate reporting / blogging that GM and Ford need to build Hybrids. GM and Ford both build more Hybrids than Honda or Nissan and by next year will be selling more hybrids than Toyota.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion - but you ought to at least know the facts when you form that opinion. REAL JOURNALISTS report facts - not misinformed personal opinions.