Letter from a Dodge Dealer

[RangerM]

Worth reading from this blog.

Letter to the Editor

 

My name is George C. Joseph. I am the sole owner of Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu, a family owned and operated business in Melbourne, Florida. My family bought and paid for this automobile franchise 35 years ago in 1974. I am the second generation to manage this business.

 

We currently employ 50+ people and before the economic slowdown we employed over 70 local people. We are active in the community and the local chamber of commerce. We deal with several dozen local vendors on a day to day basis and many more during a month. All depend on our business for part of their livelihood. We are financially strong with great respect in the market place and community. We have strong local presence and stability.

 

I work every day the store is open, nine to ten hours a day. I know most of our customers and all our employees. Sunshine Dodge is my life.

 

On Thursday, May 14, 2009 I was notified that my Dodge franchise, that we purchased, will be taken away from my family on June 9, 2009 without compensation and given to another dealer at no cost to them. My new vehicle inventory consists of 125 vehicles with a financed balance of 3 million dollars. This inventory becomes impossible to sell with no factory incentives beyond June 9, 2009. Without the Dodge franchise we can no longer sell a new Dodge as "new," nor will we be able to do any warranty service work. Additionally, my Dodge parts inventory, (approximately $300,000.) is virtually worthless without the ability to perform warranty service. There is no offer from Chrysler to buy back the vehicles or parts inventory.

 

Our facility was recently totally renovated at Chrysler's insistence, incurring a multi-million dollar debt in the form of a mortgage at Sun Trust Bank.

 

HOW IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CAN THIS HAPPEN?

 

THIS IS A PRIVATE BUSINESS NOT A GOVERNMENT ENTITY

 

This is beyond imagination! My business is being stolen from me through NO FAULT OF OUR OWN. We did NOTHING wrong.

 

This atrocity will most likely force my family into bankruptcy. This will also cause our 50+ employees to be unemployed. How will they provide for their families? This is a total economic disaster.

 

HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN IN A FREE MARKET ECONOMY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?

 

I beseech your help, and look forward to your reply. Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

George C. Joseph

President & Owner

Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu

[Deanh]

Worth reading from this blog.

note to george...its not the govts fault, nor are they the ones taking his store away.....definitely feel for the guy though....not even given a choice or any compensation....

Edited May 20, 2009 by Deanh

[campbell53]

I'm a Ford dealer and even though this isn't happening to Ford dealers I still feel for all of the Chry/GM dealers who are being eliminated. I also am 2nd generation and I cannot fathom my store being taken from me. This is too close for comfort. God bless Bill Ford and Alan Mullaly. Keep on doing what you are doing!

[Deanh]

I'm a Ford dealer and even though this isn't happening to Ford dealers I still feel for all of the Chry/GM dealers who are being eliminated. I also am 2nd generation and I cannot fathom my store being taken from me. This is too close for comfort. God bless Bill Ford and Alan Mullaly. Keep on doing what you are doing!

+1...hang in there, we sure seem to be ahead of the curve, and more exciting product is on the way...irrespective of what peoples veiws are, Dodges AND GM's woes stem from consistently building vehicles the public just didn't plain don't want! I mean really....name one of their products that has people lining up that ISN"T a small selling niche model.....

[jobu37]

+1...hang in there, we sure seem to be ahead of the curve, and more exciting product is on the way...irrespective of what peoples veiws are, Dodges AND GM's woes stem from consistently building vehicles the public just didn't plain don't want! I mean really....name one of their products that has people lining up that ISN"T a small selling niche model.....

Isn't the Sebring starting to gain momentum? :hyper:

[RangerM]

I'm a Ford dealer and even though this isn't happening to Ford dealers I still feel for all of the Chry/GM dealers who are being eliminated. I also am 2nd generation and I cannot fathom my store being taken from me. This is too close for comfort. God bless Bill Ford and Alan Mullaly. Keep on doing what you are doing!

This is why we shouldn't forget that many people will be hurting from this whole thing, and why I don't respond to what is happening to GM/Chryco with glee.

 

Unfortunately, many will view George as simply a business owner, who probably didn't deserve his yearly income because he's (supposedly) rich, and got that way on the backs of his poor workers (who he kept down). Many will forget his workers who won't have George's dealership for their livelihoods anymore, either.

[Critic]

When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 degrees Celsius. The Russians used a pencil.

[V8 Ford]

That's horrible, but I don't know enough about bankruptcy and franchise laws to say that it wouldn't have happened if Chrysler had gone belly-up without government intervention. If that isn't the case, he should grab a lawyer and head to the nearest federal court.

[silvrsvt]

When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 degrees Celsius. The Russians used a pencil.

 

BS!

 

Comments: This story marvelously illustrates the perils of government waste; pity it's not true. NASA didn't have $12 billion to spend on anything when it first started sending astronauts into space in the early 1960s. The agency's entire budget for the 1960 was $500 million; by 1965, it was up to $5.2 billion, still not enough to throw billions away reinventing the ballpoint pen. Be that as it may, astronauts in the Apollo program did begin using a specially-designed zero-gravity pen in 1968 called the Fisher AG-7 Space Pen. Nitrogen-pressurized, the pen worked in "freezing cold, desert heat, underwater and upside down," as well as the weightlessness of outer space. It was developed not by NASA but by an enterprising individual, Paul C. Fisher, owner of the Fisher Space Pen Company. By his own account, Fisher spent "thousands of hours and millions of dollars" of his own in research and development; not billions.

 

 

The Fisher Space Pen is still used by both American and Russian astronauts on every space flight, and you can buy one yourself direct from the company for a measly 50 bucks.

[Critic]

That's BS! I bought one at the Cape for less than $10.

[macattak1]

Worth reading from this blog.

 

Ummm, how do they take his dealership away and give it to another?

This is where people take a gun and visit their old employer.

Its very scary and not a good way to do business.

 

Peace and Blessings

[RichardJensen]

Ummm, how do they take his dealership away and give it to another?

Simple. They ask the judge to okay it, and then if he says so, they do it.

 

The Dodge dealership in Rapid City, SD may well end up awarded the Chrysler & Jeep franchises that are being terminated at Liberty Chrysler.

 

Aberdeen Chrysler Center will probably get Biegler's Jeep franchise, etc.

[MY93SHO]

When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 degrees Celsius. The Russians used a pencil.

 

 

They also slammed a few cosmonauts into the russian steppe and blew up a few N1 rockets. Don't forget the cosmonaut who got roasted in pure oxygen using a hot plate.

Wonder what those cost?

 

A pencil is great if it's sharp otherwise it's just a piece of wood.

 

BTW, where'd you get the 12 billion figure?

[Critic]

oh, just siting another internet source

 

NASA

[Mark B. Morrow]

When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 degrees Celsius. The Russians used a pencil.

 

 

That's a great story except for the fact that it isn't true.

 

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

[Critic]

That's a great story except for the fact that it isn't true.

 

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

 

please see my link I cited.

[lfeg]

Simple. They ask the judge to okay it, and then if he says so, they do it.

 

The Dodge dealership in Rapid City, SD may well end up awarded the Chrysler & Jeep franchises that are being terminated at Liberty Chrysler.

 

Aberdeen Chrysler Center will probably get Biegler's Jeep franchise, etc.

 

The rotten part of all of this is that the dealers who lose out are stuck with an inventory of cars they cannot legally sell as new after the June 09 date. But the floorplanning expense continues. The chance of most of these dealers selling their inventory of new cars by the cutoff date is very slim, given current sales rates at Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealers. And a fire sale of all of this inventory will just pull future sales forward and hurt the remaining dealers and competing dealers. Sounds like a plan developed by a thought impaired bunch of lawyers.

[J-150]

the only fair thing is for the parent automaker (GM or Chrysler) to take back ALL of the vehicle inventory with the franchise revocation.

 

If a fast food franchse is yanked, the inventory goes with the store.

[RaZor]

While I really feel for this business owner, I keep wondering why he did not act several years ago when it was pretty obvious that Chrysler had very BIG problems. Daimler totally screwed up the company and Cerberus bought a very injured company - without a real plan (bus plan) to put it all back together again. They certainly did not allocate funds above the purchase price to turn the company into a bona fide competitive manufacturer.

 

But then again, look who Cerberus is - and who runs the show there - and what they are - and who they hired to be CEO (Nardelli - who Home Depot had to pay to get rid of). Has it not been common knowledge that the D3 were going to have to eliminate dealers - as there existed far too many - did he not get that "memo"? Did he not know that he was not a top performer (that would survive even the most drastic cuts?

 

Somewhere along the line, if I were this man, I would have figured out that what I was holding was a lemon. . . and the taste wasn't ever going to get better . . . it would never turn sweet . . . and the chances that it was going to get more sour - was very high. I would have unloaded that dealership years ago (when the writing was on the wall - in bright red). <who knows a new owner might have been able to turn that dealership into a top performer - that didn't eventually get axed>

 

I hope that he has a plan to have a fire sale with complete inventory elimination (note that I did not use the word reduction) -- BEFORE June 9th. Otherwise, he is going to eat even more dollars (they do not taste good and are loaded with germs). . . if he has to sell them as used.

 

Somehow I don't think that pursuing legal solutions is going to be productive for him (and others in his position). Sell the frigging cars before June 9th!!! Is it fair what is being done to these people? Of course not. Was it fair for long time employees that got laid-off/fired just before their pensions fully vested over the last three decades? Of course not. I've known people that got canned just a couple of months before being fully vested (max pension bennies) and everyone knew why they were canned. Some say that IS the free market place (and it was never fair). Personally, I don't think the free marketplace has every existed. Just like free trade does not exist. Someone most often looses.

 

The trick is being ahead of the ball and don't get run over in the first place (even if the business has been in the family for decades). Once upon a time A&P was the greatest supermarket chain in the country (founded in the 1850's). It was family owned and they refused to adjust to new business plans and change with the market place. It did not take long for it to fall to just a also-ran chain. I am sure many of you can think of other examples. Anyone in the market to buy a Blockbuster (or other video store) franchise? The smart ones got out many years ago.

[J-150]

I hope that he has a plan to have a fire sale with complete inventory elimination (note that I did not use the word reduction) -- BEFORE June 9th. Otherwise, he is going to eat even more dollars (they do not taste good and are loaded with germs). . . if he has to sell them as used.

 

 

 

if he's going bankrupt anyway (still owes on the renovations) why not send an FU to Chrylser? Sell everything at 50 cents on the dollar and completely mess up resale values and the next 12 months of vehicle sales in the area.

[NickF1011]

if he's going bankrupt anyway (still owes on the renovations) why not send an FU to Chrylser? Sell everything at 50 cents on the dollar and completely mess up resale values and the next 12 months of vehicle sales in the area.

 

I don't believe that would be legal.

[macattak1]

So, the only time a Car Maker has any real leverage or control over their dealers is just before they go bankrupt? I.e. they don't do anything about the worst dealers, but then potentially ruin the lives of some small potentially good dealers?

 

If he had sold it, it would just be the same story with another player. The only dealers they are keeping is likely the very high volume dealers. But that should not result in the slit throats of the smaller dealers.

 

There should be some middle ground between the two when Chry cancels a franchise with a quality dealer. Maybe this guys dealership was horrible. I don't know. But if he had less complaints against him then the avg. then dealers like him should be taken care of better then just causing more bankruptcy and loan defaults.

 

They could at least stagger these closings out over 18 months or so. Get rid of a few and move the inventory to others, etc. until it is wound down. And Chry, as fast as they have been pumping out their cars the last year how are these guys going to realistically unload their inventory? In a way it is like Chry did them doubly ruined them. Over produce and get everyone to buy more than they need, then close down the smaller ones. Nice.

 

It should not be that hard to figure out a formula for discontinuing franchisees by years in service, volume, customer satisfaction, dealers in area, etc.

 

Peace and Blessings

[lfeg]

This whole dealer dumping thing is going to come back and bite all of the domestic automakers. Many of these dealers will be looking for other lines to sell. Many have prime locations. There will be foreign makes looking to add dealers where it makes sense (mostly those selling here already, but there may be some newcomers) and this will be a great opportunity. I know of several regional dealer groups that are family owned that soon will have open facilities and they will be looking for something to put in those spots. One has already announced a hookup with Mahindra. We can try to laugh this off, but I remember when a dealer in the area had an open facility in the late 80s and hooked up with Hyundai. Many laughed back then, but that dealer now moves more metal in a month than some Chrysler dealers around here (who survived the cut) move in a year.

[97svtgoin05gt]

Very sad and I feel for this guy. Hes in quite a predicument. Get the lawyers in immediately and I'd probably stop payments on that second mortgage, at least for now. May as well conserve some cash as it doesn't look like there'll be much of business to carry on shortly anyway.

[Critic]

F him

 

I beseech your help, and look forward to your reply. Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

George C. Joseph

President & Owner

Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu

 

 

I wish I could have gotten a franchise and just done Internet sales and I could moan also. What did he expect. His PARENTS bought the franchise back in '74 AFTER the first gas crisis, and he never diversified and expected things would be taken care of for him..

 

Well Mister a hell of a lot of people are out of work, something like 8.9% of people who DID work, your just another one. Get in line, Nothing to see here folks. Happens each and every whining day. Cept he now feels he did his part. Sheesh just a Dodge too, no Chrysler or Jeep. HE DESERVED IT!