May 14, 2009 10:30 am US/Central
Chrysler Ends Association With 11 DFW Dealerships
Chrysler To End Association With 789 Dealers, About 25 Percent Of Them
NEW YORK (AP) ―
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Chrysler LLC has told a bankruptcy court it plans to eliminate 789 of its dealers - or about 25 percent of them - across the country as part of its restructuring process. (File)
WBZ
11 North Texas Chrysler dealerships were targeted to close as part of the automaker's bankruptcy filing Thursday. The company called its network of dealerships antiquated and admitted it has too many stores competing with each other.
Chrysler LLC wants to eliminate 789 of its U.S. 3,200 dealerships; 11 of those are in the immediate North Texas area. Across the state, 50 dealerships made the closure list.
Among those stores slated to close in our area are: Preston Chrysler Jeep in Dallas; Tommy Manuel Chrysler-Jeep in Arlington; Manuel Dodge in Richardson; Jim McNatt Dodge and Huffines Chrysler Jeep in Denton; Frank Kent Dodge in Fort Worth; El Dorado Motors (Chrysler-Jeep) in McKinney; Grubbs Chrysler-Jeep in Bedford; Carlisle Jeep and Bossier Dodge in Waxahachie; and Russell Whatley Motor Co. in Mineral Wells.
Chrysler, in a motion filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, said many of the dealers' sales are too low. Just over 50 percent of the dealers account for about 90 percent of the company's U.S. sales, the motion said.
The move, which the dealers can appeal, is likely to cause devastating affects in cities and towns across the country as thousands of jobs are lost and taxes are not paid.
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here for a complete list of those marked for closure.
Chrysler spokeswoman Kathy Graham would not comment other than to say the company will notify dealers before speaking publicly.
Chrysler dealerships aren't the only ones scheduled to get bad news this week. General Motors Corp. says it is notifying 1,100 dealers that it will not renew their franchise agreements when they expire at the end of September of 2010.
In its motion, Chrysler said it has many dealerships that sell one or two of its brands, with Chrysler-Jeep dealerships competing against Dodge dealers as well as other automakers' stores across the country.
"In addition, as suburbs grew and the modern interstate system continued to evolve, longstanding dealerships no longer were in the best or growing locations," the company said in its filing. "Many rural locations also served a diminishing population of potential consumers. Some dealership facilities became outdated. Other locations faced declining traffic count and declining populations."
Chrysler has received $4 billion in federal loans and has been operating in bankruptcy protection since April 30. Its sales this year are down 46 percent compared with the first four months of last year and it reported a $16.8 billion net loss for 2008.
(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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