Chrysler Closes 789 Dealers

Chrysler LLC announced today that they are planning on eliminating 789 of their 3,200 U.S. dealerships by early next month. They will formally petition the bankruptcy court...they indicated that the dealership network is antiquated and has too many stores competing with each other.

The issue with Chrysler is that these are the smaller dealers...they probably have done cost accounting and determined that it costs them more to support the dealers than they make from the sales of those dealers. Chrysler indicated that 50 % of the dealers accounted for 90 % of the the companies U. S. Sales.

Dealers were informed this morning via United Parcel Service letters...the letter notified all dealers if they if they would remain or be eliminated. A hearing is scheduled for June 3 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, at that time the judge will approve or deny the motion. In most business bankrupcy cases, judges rely on the bankrupt corporations input to determine if contract cancellations are necessary.

Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press called the cuts difficult but necessary. He said the list of dealers is final and there will be no appeal process. Eliminating dealer will cut down on the cross town competition in many cases, which will increase dealer profits.

Chrysler is trying to cut the number of single brand dealers, so that Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep can be one dealership. Chrysler averages of 300 vehicles per dealer in 2008, meanwhile Honda sells 1,200 and Toyota sells 1,300 respectively.

The dealership cuts will cut also cut deep into the city budgets, as thousands of employees will be laid off and the city will loose sales tax revenue from vehicle sales.

My take is that this is one of the necessary steps to get Chrysler back in the game! It will be very painful to the employees, the dealers and the cities impacted. Chysler has done this so it can change the dealer contracts at will....outside of bankrupcy they would have been hit with a barrage of lawsuits.

I do feel that giving these small businesses less than a months notice is highly unfair! Many of these dealers have been with Chrysler for many years, then to tell them they don't have a contract under a month is very cold. The dealers should be notified and given time to take appropriate steps to wind down the business. Actually, this action will probably throw many of the dealers and employees impacted into bankrupcy themselves.

It is estimated that approximately 190,000 jobs would be lost from the GM and Chrysler bankrupcies.

March Car Sales Are Up In Parts of The World

Government incentives are having an impact in various areas of the world for the month of March. Most of the increases are due to government programs to increase auto sales. Brazil auto sales are up 17% versus last March, the first increase in six months. Sales also rose strongly in France and Italy, with the decline slowing in Spain. China has just reported and sales are up 25% over last year. Germany has a new car for old car program in which almost a million people have taken advantage.

In Japan, the auto sales dropped 25% from last year, meanwhile Korean auto sales decreased by 19%. U.S. sales are still down substantially but by slightly lower number that in February.

• General Motors down 45%
• Ford down 41%
• Chrysler down 39%
• Toyota down 39%
• Nissan down 38%
• Honda down 36%
• Hyundai down 2%
  

GM is asking for $6 billion in aid from several countries, including Sweden, Germany, Britain and Thailand. German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated that they need a viable restructuring plan before Germany considers any bailouts.

Many of the manufacturers think that the market may be bottoming and that we could start seeing sales increases by the end of the year. Share prices for the auto manufacturers increased today on speculation that the industry will start increasing sales. Toyota, Honda and Nissan were up 6 - 10% in trading in Tokyo.

White House Shreds Auto Restructing Plans

President Obama today announced that they have turned down the restructuring plans submitted by General Motors and Chrysler. GM apparently did not meet certain promises made in exchange for the $13.4 billion in government loans. Obama cited a failure in leadership in Detroit and Washington. My February 16th post GM Time To Pay the Piper outlines GM's misfortunes.

Apparently, the automotive task force was not convinced that the revised plans were viable, therefore the auto companies should not receive additional bailout money.

There have been over 400,000 jobs lost in the automobile sector in the last year. That includes manufacturers, dealers, and suppliers. Currently, Michigan which has the most automobile employees has over 10% unemployment.

“We cannot, we must not, and we will not let our auto industry simply vanish,” the president indicated in his speech. Obama will give GM 60 days to submit a new viability plan meanwhile providing operating money to GM. The automobile task force will find new management for GM, CEO Rick Wagoner was asked to resign yesterday. Fritz Henderson, GM's President and Chief Operating Officer will be the new CEO. New directors will now make up the majority of the GM Board of Directors If the new restructuring plan is approved permanent loans will follow.

Chrysler has less time than GM, they must reach a deal with Fiat SpA within thirty days. Fiat will be allowed to buy up to 35% of the struggling automaker. The Fiat deal would give Chrysler some small car designs with good fuel economy. Fiat would get stock for transferring the technology. If Chrysler is successful $6 billion in permanent loans would follow.

It is possible that if one or both companies do not put together a successful business plan, the auto task force will sponsor a structured bankruptcy. This would allow the companies to operate, reduce debt and restructure without fear of creditors.

This is a sad day for the auto industry! There will probably be many more people laid off due to this severe downturn. I am of the opinion that a government sponsored bankruptcy is the only way to get either of the companies turned around. GM will probably survive in a much smaller reorganization, Chrysler may not survive!