Mapping the Carnage: Laying out Chrysler's dealer closings nationwide
Click above to view and explore Chrysler's dealer rejections nationwide and in your town
There's no easy to way to put it: Chrysler's bankrupt. The only way for the Auburn Hills-based automaker to emerge from bankruptcy is to make some drastic moves. Fortunately, filing for Chapter 11 allows a company to do drastic things without the same repercussions that a solvent company would normally experience. Chrysler took advantage of this fact yesterday when it announced the rejection of 789 dealers nationwide. That's about 25% of Chrysler's total dealer body, and the culling will leave 2,392 remaining dealerships to carry the load, 80% of which will house all three brands under one roof.
So what does this look like big picture? Thanks to modern technology, a.k.a. Google Maps, we can show you exactly what 789 dealers looks like, and you also can zoom in on your state or area to see exactly which dealers won't be selling Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles anymore. For its part, Chrysler is downplaying fears of out-of-work salespeople. As the argument goes, many of the dealerships losing their license to sell Pentastar products sell other brands as well, and some also make more money selling used cars than new.
Then there's Toyota. The Japanese automaker is reportedly going around to some of these rejected Chrysler LLC dealers and offering them the opportunity to switch franchises. We expect that some other automakers will jump on this bandwagon and pick up at least a few of the pieces of Chrysler over time, as well. Thanks for the tips, Travis and Steve!
[Source: The New York Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Harrison 3:14PM (5/15/2009)
Wow! just unbelievable. Really sad, because of all these people's jobs are gone.
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Frank 3:19PM (5/15/2009)
Actually it's somewhere between 0 and the 37,000+ that the NADA (National Auto Dealers Assoc) estimated that work at those dealers. That's because some will switch to another franchise, some will work at other dealers that the closed dealer owns, some will stay open and sell used cars. No way to know exactly how many will be out of work, but not all of them.
Harrison 3:22PM (5/15/2009)
Oh, well that makes me feel better. But it's still sad.
Frank 4:18PM (5/15/2009)
Yes, no doubt. And it will be even more sad when GM does this. The 1100 annnounced today is just the beginning. The final count will be 2000-3000 I fear.
gstylezprodigy 3:10PM (5/15/2009)
apparently the Entire East Side of the United States has NO love for Chrystler O_o
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2004m3driver 3:25PM (5/15/2009)
No they had TOO much love and now have to shut down.
Tony Xia 3:10PM (5/15/2009)
Bloody!
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nastinupe 4:05PM (5/15/2009)
One of those dealerships is right up the street from my house. I'm about to go up there now and see if I can get a sweet deal on something nice.
inteller 3:25PM (5/15/2009)
Bloody stupid more like it.
Toyota is going around to these dealers to see if they want to pick up a Toyota franchise.
Let's see, FIAT is merging in Chrysler....yet they don't want any of these dealers.
Cutting mainly rural dealers makes all the sense now, because people in rural areas typically aren't going to buy those little toy cars that ChysIAT will be making.
Plus FIAT is too busy trying to get around that gov imposed salary cap to bother with doing something smart like picking up some of these abandoned dealers.
Ford will RULE in the rural markets after GM and Chrysler are gone. Bread and butter sales folks....that's why Ford will be grinning from ear to ear when this is all over.
Sea Urchin 3:36PM (5/15/2009)
Bloody?????????
Did you know that average Chrysler dealership sold about 300 vehicles a month? Toyota and Honda dealers sell over 1K. Plus Toyota sells way more than Chrysler and even after this cut will have less dealers.
Come on guys, this HAD to happen, there are just too many dealers out there.
Jei 7:33PM (5/15/2009)
?Ford will rule? Bullshiite!
Ford has mortgaged everything but the carpet & furniture. OK, they didn't take the govt bailout, but now they"ll pay heavily to use their own logo on their letterhead.
Just like GM & Chrysler, Ford still needs a larger internal reorganization. If Ford was really smart & ambitious, they would have dropped the Mercury brand and invested more in Mazda and the "zoom, zoom" concept.
Jei 7:36PM (5/15/2009)
Ohh...and the dealership mapping is ridiculously "visual". I couldn't really visualize 800 shops closing....it's just crazy that so many continue to exist.
James 8:05PM (5/15/2009)
Seems like the Chrysler dealer near my place has been spared...safe enough to do business peddling the future Fiat USDM line...just right across the street from a well noted Los Angeles BMW dealer (New Century BMW). Smart.
montoym 1:02PM (5/18/2009)
The only Chrysler/Jeep dealer closing in my town is the one I used to work at. The map is way off on the location though, it's about a mile from where they placd the pinpoint.
Kev 3:12PM (5/15/2009)
Causeway Jeep? Oh noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
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PJ 3:17PM (5/15/2009)
Wow. That's nine dealerships I've either visited or lived near in the Sacramento/Bay areas.
Hopefully other automakers will be snap up all of these franchises as long-term investments; in the short term, the market's pretty saturated already.
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Terry 3:17PM (5/15/2009)
Too bad. They make some decent cars too.
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yournamehere6785 3:18PM (5/15/2009)
name 3.
Frank 3:24PM (5/15/2009)
Charger, Challenger, Viper, 300, Grand Cherokee, Wrangler, Patriot, oh wait, that's 7. Sorry.
Terry 3:25PM (5/15/2009)
The Chrysler Town & Country, Jeeps, Charger, 300C, SRT-8 models.