REPORT: Rejected GM, Chrysler dealers telling their story on YouTube [w/VIDEO]
Holdiman Motor terminated dealer plea - click above image to watch the video
Since government money washed in to pump out General Motors' and Chrysler's swamped and nearly sunken businesses, there's been little mention of the cuts to the dealer base that both automakers have made as part of their rebirth. Tammy Darvish, whose DarCars Automotive Group lost two Chrysler outlets, has started a YouTube channel that encourages terminated dealers to send in videos telling their stories.
Co-chair of the Committee to Restore Dealer Rights, Darvish feels that the dealers' stories have largely been ignored. Many of the videos tell tales of long family histories in the dealership business, and all have an air of incredulity about how their American Dreams could be snatched away. These personal accounts may not return any franchises to operation, but at the very least, the effort is cathartic and airs the plight of the many hardworking employees that found work at the now-closed stores. An example of the numerous videos on the channel posted after the jump.
[Sources: Automotive News - sub req, YouTube]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Tim 11:08AM (9/30/2009)
The Big 3 would have been smarter to just cut financing for the superfluous dealers (I am speaking of financing for the dealers inventory, not for individual buyers). This would have had the same effect as terminating a franchise agreement since no one else would give the dealers financing right now, but it wouldn't make GM and Chrysler look so bad.
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Julius 11:10AM (9/30/2009)
I wouldn't be sure about that - you don't know if part of the dealer agreements that were terminated included "assistance with financing inventory" clauses.
Tim 11:12AM (9/30/2009)
Hmm...that's a good point. But, I'd think there would have to be a backdoor in such a clause for a dealer that may not be able to pay the loans back, which probably wouldn't be too hard to legally establish right now.
Tool 12:18PM (9/30/2009)
While I sympathize with these terminated dealers, the state laws—they themselves championed—made it virtually impossible to fire dealers.
Most dealers will say there are too many dealers, but when it comes down to your dealership, that's the wrong choice. Of course, this is human nature. But its time for dealers to move on. GM and Chrysler needed the power to cull their dealer ranks. In fact, they didn't clear out nearly enough dealers.
zamafir 12:50PM (9/30/2009)
Tool has it, it's tough but a realistic view on the situation. The big three became way to big, in terms of dealer network as much as the companies themselves.
BigWill 2:11PM (9/30/2009)
"In fact, they didn't clear out nearly enough dealers."
That may be true and they may have had the right to cull the dealers through bankruptcy, but dealers have the right to be ticked off. Literally not that long ago, GM & Chrysler didn't have any problem with their number of dealers when SUVs & trucks were flying off the lots. When sales slowed down, Chrysler used the dealers to prop up their statistics via implied threats and cramming inventory down their throats, then dealers that sucked up inventory were rewarded by being cut anyways. Or the dealers that bought into GM's push to consolidate dealerships, i.e. Buick-Pontiac-GMC and Cadillac-Hummer, and wasted money renovating dealerships only to have Pontiac and Hummer killed. How could anyone *not* expect bad blood?
Chrysler in particular will find out that karma will bite you in the ass. Let's see how eager their suppliers - another group Chrysler treated like crap - will be to do business with The New Chrysler.
Jared 7:23AM (10/01/2009)
Welcome to the world of franchising. Hope you enjoyed your stay!
Ron 11:09AM (9/30/2009)
It's a crime. We've got a Chevy dealer in the town I live in that's been around forever and is a higher-volume mover and it's closing? Now the closest Chevy dealer is like 20 miles away. How many people that were loyal to that dealer will move to other brands once it's time to buy again?
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tcc3 12:06PM (9/30/2009)
Oh not not 20 miles!
If people are really buying cars based on the closeness of the dealer, they deserve whatever car they end up with.
Rocketboy 12:39PM (9/30/2009)
Yes, because how far your car would need to be towed to, or how long it takes to drive for scheduled maintenance shouldn't have anything to do with anything?
the4thheat 7:33PM (9/30/2009)
Umm...if your car is reliable why do you need a dealership closer than 20 miles away? Even if you're nuts and insist on buying OEM oil/filters/drain pan bolts or whatever you can just pick a few up when you're there.
And seriously 20 miles is what, a 30 minute drive? How often are you going to your dealership that it's gonna matter whether it's 5 minutes or 30 minutes away.
Rocketboy 10:47PM (9/30/2009)
Of course 30 minutes isn't a big deal. But not everyone is making a decision on 5 vs 30 minutes. When my wife bought her new car, one of the things that we had to deal with is do we go with the closer dealership which stinks, or do we add another 30 minutes to our 20 minute drive to go to a better dealership. We came to the conclusion that it was worth the almost hour long drive.
But for the populace at large that are NOT enthusiasts, buying a car from Joe down the street, or Jim two citys over makes a HUGE impact.
Also, nobody buys a car with the hope that it's not reliable. But s happens. And a long tow, or missed days of work, increase the cost of ownership quickly.
tC 11:10AM (9/30/2009)
All of the dealers that were shut down near me, were run-down crappy dealerships. None of them had paved lots for car storage, none of them had a nice looking showroom, all of them had filthy service bays, etc. From what I've seen, the dealers that have been closed, should have been closed years ago.
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Danimal 11:17AM (9/30/2009)
Yeah I agree. Obviously I feel really bad for the dealers that have been around for generations and employed many families, but GM didn't just blindly decide which ones to close.
If they wanted to compete they should have stayed competitive.
thipps 12:00PM (9/30/2009)
@ danamal
yes a agree some of the dealerships did not perform as well as they should but most of the shut down dealerships were just fine.
i cant find the article i read from a main stream media web page about a month ago which did a study on the closed dealerships and there political affiliations but the numbers were staggering. The dealers who where closed donated 10s of millions to republican organizations and elected leaders. compared to hundreds of thousands donated to democratic. now dont get me wrong i didnt do the research for myself but it must hold SOME weight in our minds.
In my opinion democrats and republicans two factions of the same party. i know thats a big idea to wrap your head around but think about it. every eight years the other party has the answer to the problem of the day. this has been going on for YEARS. but in the mean time we are slowly moving in the same direction.
take it for what its worth......
ebleyes 12:44PM (9/30/2009)
@thipps
I hate to tell you this and shatter your conspiracy theories but the extreme majority of dealership owners are republicans (close to 90% by some estimates).
dmyoung 11:18PM (9/30/2009)
That might be the case in your area but it is certainly not the norm. I know personally, have rlaead about and spoken to dealers all across the country that were successful, had new facilities and were shut down. This is America, let the marketplace decide who stays and who goes. Isn't that the free enterprise system. Let the customers decide, not the US goverment or the manufacturere both of which have an agenda to take franchises worth millions from dealers and "give" them to their friends and/or supporters.
DayShifter 11:15AM (9/30/2009)
Hate to see any business fail, especially one with a long family history. But how is this different from any other company that had to make cuts or folded. We hear this from small businesses and individuals all the time.
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Alex 11:31AM (9/30/2009)
Exactly. The economy of the country simply cannot support the massive size of the dealer networks. It is sad to hear that there are so many family owned businesses that have had to close down but car dealerships are not the only ones who have had to board up the windows.
Dave 12:07PM (9/30/2009)
Because these arent FAILING dealerships. They were just dealerships that were shut down at the discresion of a bean counter. They werent failing. Their supplier was/is failing.
If you own a mail order parts business and one of your biggest suppliers is going out of business or downsizing, do they have the right to also shut you down just arbitratly? No. They have the right to decide after your current contract is up that they wont do business with you, but they cant just ignore a contract because they think its in their best interest.
I think I need to make it clear that I am for shutting down some of the dealerships. Particulary the ones that are in the toilet as far as customer service and building presentation. But those places should be given an oppertunity to get their act together and make a change. Not just randomly shut down because car czar says so.
Im for following the law and this simply isnt happening. There are ways to acomplish this legally as shown by GM, but its clear that people want results yesterday and that simply wont happen. And in the push for immediate results you violate the law. I have a serious problem with that.