Letter From A Dodge Dealer

[Texas_Veteran]

Damn, that is sad.

[Ed_Lethal]

WTF!! that sucks!

 

im tired of this Sh*t im calling for help only one person can help us in this crisis!

 

[SSThunder]

Things will only get worse when GM files for chapter 11. Many many jobs will be lost

[Dylan06SS]

Misdirecting the blame there guys... our government had very little, if anything at all to do with this. Sure its easier to play conspiracy theorist if you voted for the other guy and you are clinging to the "Obama is a closet muslim socialist zombie vampire" ideology, but facts are facts.

 

Any franchise contract would have been invalidated when Chrysler filed for bankruptcy, that means all existing contracts, agreements, debts, etc were null and void. It sounds to me, as part of the restructuring, Chrysler is reducing dealer headcount and under the protection of their bankruptcy filing they have zero obligation to honor any contract with franchise holders. Since this guy will no longer be a "Franchise" dealer, yes... he won't be able to perform warranty work or sell his existing inventory of vehicles as "NEW" but that doesn't mean he cannot become an independent dealer... there are tons of them out there. The initial loss will be substantial b/c the inventory he is sitting on will be sold at a loss, but he can still have an active service department doing non-warranty repair work. Essentially he just got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

Does it suck? Yes. But if you want to throw blame around try pointing in the appropriate direction... American automakers are now paying for decades of piss poor business practices, inflated overhead, and rapidly eroding market share. It just so happens that the economic collapse dealt them the deathblow right as our new president was being elected. Though the timing is unfortunate it is completely to unfair to pin this on the current administration, or any administration for that matter. Simple fact is no matter who was in office when Chrysler filed for bankruptcy this was still going to happen... please try to see beyond your bias before making assumptions and attaching blame.

Edited May 29, 2009 by Dylan06SS (see edit history)

[idahoBLKss]

i just want to take this min. to thank all u obama voters for this 1 of many other great changes he has made !!

 

it just makes me sick!!

[F1SSS]

That letter is sickening to me also. I do agree with Dylan, it is part GM's fault for bad business practices. Stay tuned for more change...

[zeake]

i just want to take this min. to thank all u obama voters for this 1 of many other great changes he has made !!

 

it just makes me sick!!

 

+1 . They should not be able to snatch a bought and paid for franchise and give it to someone else.

 

That is the kind of thing that will make a man do crazy things.

[Black2003SS]

While true that the current or any other administration did not have a hand in creating the financial mess for the automotive industry, the current administration had the choice to bail them out or let them fail. Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection because of the lack of cooperation with investors AND a bailout. I find it ironic that the current administration was pro union, however, allowed the UAW to be virtually destroyed/decimated through bankruptcy, even after demanded concessions. Everyone is hurting and everyone has a hand in it including people who took out loans they could not afford and bought houses or used credit cards beyond their means.

[slammedbowtie]

well he could sue and buy a chevy dealer.....o wait that doesnt work either lol

[Dylan06SS]

While true that the current or any other administration did not have a hand in creating the financial mess for the automotive industry, the current administration had the choice to bail them out or let them fail. Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection because of the lack of cooperation with investors AND a bailout. I find it ironic that the current administration was pro union, however, allowed the UAW to be virtually destroyed/decimated through bankruptcy, even after demanded concessions. Everyone is hurting and everyone has a hand in it including people who took out loans they could not afford and bought houses or used credit cards beyond their means.

 

Good riddance to the UAW IMO... the sooner our car companies can get out from under the excessive burden the UAW has placed on them the sooner they can get back to being competitive. Unions are an antiquated and useless relic of the past, sure they were useful in their time, but living in the world that we do, where anyone can hire a lawyer and sue if treated unjustly by their employer it just makes so little sense to allow unions to control the fate of such large chunks of our collective heritage.

 

Most compelling argument on the subject of what to do with the failing automakers came from Mitt Romney back in November of last year... I 100% subscribe to his thought process in this article and only wish this had been the way the government had decided to go instead of pouring more money into failing companies. I know its not a popular opinion to say "LET THEM GO BANKRUPT" but read the article and understand that it/was the lesser of the 2 evils b/c even though GM is afloat now... until they unburden themselves of the unions, renegotiate all their contracts, and start fresh they'll never be competitive again.

 

LET DETROIT GO BANKRUPT

By MITT ROMNEY

Published: November 18, 2008

 

IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.

 

Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.

 

I love cars, American cars. I was born in Detroit, the son of an auto chief executive. In 1954, my dad, George Romney, was tapped to run American Motors when its president suddenly died. The company itself was on life support — banks were threatening to deal it a death blow. The stock collapsed. I watched Dad work to turn the company around — and years later at business school, they were still talking about it. From the lessons of that turnaround, and from my own experiences, I have several prescriptions for Detroit’s automakers.

 

First, their huge disadvantage in costs relative to foreign brands must be eliminated. That means new labor agreements to align pay and benefits to match those of workers at competitors like BMW, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Furthermore, retiree benefits must be reduced so that the total burden per auto for domestic makers is not higher than that of foreign producers.

 

That extra burden is estimated to be more than $2,000 per car. Think what that means: Ford, for example, needs to cut $2,000 worth of features and quality out of its Taurus to compete with Toyota’s Avalon. Of course the Avalon feels like a better product — it has $2,000 more put into it. Considering this disadvantage, Detroit has done a remarkable job of designing and engineering its cars. But if this cost penalty persists, any bailout will only delay the inevitable.

 

Second, management as is must go. New faces should be recruited from unrelated industries — from companies widely respected for excellence in marketing, innovation, creativity and labor relations.

 

The new management must work with labor leaders to see that the enmity between labor and management comes to an end. This division is a holdover from the early years of the last century, when unions brought workers job security and better wages and benefits. But as Walter Reuther, the former head of the United Automobile Workers, said to my father, “Getting more and more pay for less and less work is a dead-end street.”

 

You don’t have to look far for industries with unions that went down that road. Companies in the 21st century cannot perpetuate the destructive labor relations of the 20th. This will mean a new direction for the U.A.W., profit sharing or stock grants to all employees and a change in Big Three management culture.

 

The need for collaboration will mean accepting sanity in salaries and perks. At American Motors, my dad cut his pay and that of his executive team, he bought stock in the company, and he went out to factories to talk to workers directly. Get rid of the planes, the executive dining rooms — all the symbols that breed resentment among the hundreds of thousands who will also be sacrificing to keep the companies afloat.

 

Investments must be made for the future. No more focus on quarterly earnings or the kind of short-term stock appreciation that means quick riches for executives with options. Manage with an eye on cash flow, balance sheets and long-term appreciation. Invest in truly competitive products and innovative technologies — especially fuel-saving designs — that may not arrive for years. Starving research and development is like eating the seed corn.

 

Just as important to the future of American carmakers is the sales force. When sales are down, you don’t want to lose the only people who can get them to grow. So don’t fire the best dealers, and don’t crush them with new financial or performance demands they can’t meet.

 

It is not wrong to ask for government help, but the automakers should come up with a win-win proposition. I believe the federal government should invest substantially more in basic research — on new energy sources, fuel-economy technology, materials science and the like — that will ultimately benefit the automotive industry, along with many others. I believe Washington should raise energy research spending to $20 billion a year, from the $4 billion that is spent today. The research could be done at universities, at research labs and even through public-private collaboration. The federal government should also rectify the imbedded tax penalties that favor foreign carmakers.

 

But don’t ask Washington to give shareholders and bondholders a free pass — they bet on management and they lost.

 

The American auto industry is vital to our national interest as an employer and as a hub for manufacturing. A managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs. It would permit the companies to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs. The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk.

 

In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate with a bailout check.

[gixxerrider]

I dont belive anything would have stopped this from happening. The loss of a franchise is what this topic was about not who is the president. Bashing the president wont help anyone. I dont believe it really matters who is sitting in that chair this was going to happen. There is a bigger picture here that needs to be looked at rather than bashing someone. If a company fills for Chaper 11 they pick which contracts they want to keep. So it is the management that needs the change first. just my .02

[W2W402]

Dylan, I agree 100%.

 

People blaming our administration for the UAW's bad business ethics simply astounds me. There were so many other people involved that MADE this happen before Obama was even done with grammer school. Hell he was still sipping cool-aid trough a sippy cup.

 

Regardless who you voted for, people's idea of business ethics and standards should remain the same. To bend the accountability of corps. just to make an argument stick only makes people seem bitter and uneducated on the very topic they are trying to convey.

[tburkdoll]

I agree that it had began sliding downhill before osama got in office, BUT when the govt steps in and takes over a large company such as chrysler or GM that isnt right. Ford did it right and fought out the tough shit and didnt accept the govt bail out, and they're still kickin unlike Gm or chrysler.

 

This whole ordeal is just really F'd up....

Edited May 30, 2009 by SweetSS24 (see edit history)

[wody]

I agree that it had began sliding downhill before osama got in office, BUT when the govt steps in and takes over a large company such as chrysler or GM that isnt right. Ford did it right and fought out the tough shit and didnt accept the govt bail out, and they're still kickin unlike Gm or chrysler.

 

This whole ordeal is just really F'd up....

 

...BUT when the govt steps in and takes over a large company such as chrysler or GM that isnt right.

 

Ford...didnt accept the govt bail out, and they're still kickin unlike Gm or chrysler.

 

This whole ordeal is just really F'd up....

 

which one is it? did the gov't "take" them over? or did they have the choice to "accept" the bail out? which point are you trying to make?

Edited May 31, 2009 by WODY™ (see edit history)

[brobradh77]

Sure you cant blaaaaame Obama directly but you can blame them for the bail out...See this is how socialism works...Obama wants everyone dependent on the gov't. thats how they controll you.