|
|
More than half of the dealerships being eliminated sell less than 100 vehicles per year, Chrysler executives said, and account for 14 percent of U.S. sales.
Dealerships including Auffenberg were told Thursday morning through United Parcel Service letters if they would remain or be eliminated.
No one at the Jeep dealership wished to comment to The Missourian.
The Washington location also sells the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands.
Ford appears to be the only one of the "Big Three" automakers that has or will not dump a large number of its franchise contracts.
General Motors executives said the company will likely follow suit with Chrysler and shed over a thousand dealerships which were supposed to be notified on Friday.
Those dealerships will be given longer than June, however, as current GM contracts are not set to expire until the end of September 2010.
A GM spokesperson told the Associated Press the company would not make its list of terminated contracts public.
For the Chrysler dealers, the cuts were difficult but necessary, said Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press. He said the list of dealers is final and there will be no appeal process, according to the Associated Press.
"This is a difficult day for us and not a day anybody can be prepared for," Press told reporters during a conference call.
A hearing is scheduled for June 3 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York for the judge to determine whether to approve Chrysler's motion.
Chrysler executives said the company is trying to preserve its best-performing dealers and eliminate ones with the weakest sales.
The company also is trying to reduce the number of single-brand dealerships, like Auffenberg, and limit competing dealerships.
Customers who purchased vehicles from the affected dealers will be notified about the closures and their warranties will still be honored, said Chrysler Vice President Steven Landry.
John McEleney, a Clinton, Iowa, auto dealer who serves as chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, said about 187,000 jobs could be lost from the closing of GM and Chrysler dealerships nationwide.
Chrysler has received $4 billion in federal loans and has been operating in bankruptcy protection since April 30.
The Jeep brand which Auffenberg sells is the oldest SUV brand. It was founded in 1941 and was utilized by the U.S. Army during World War II.
The dealership still has 39 new Jeeps in stock, according to its Web site, with prices ranging from $20,445 to $43,485.
