RAMRODD

Yesterday I got a call from my dealer and they are sending my deposit money back. Looks like no more Dodges for me. Dealer got the Axe. Looks like their will be 1 Dodge dealer in ND. What is Dodge thinking.

As much as I like the Cummins engine and the Dodge Ram, I can't justify buying a new one when the dealer is 150 miles away.

I do not understand this move. I can see closing a dealer down when they are two in one town. But this is
How does closing down a dealer actually save the company money. When the dealerships are privetly owned??

At this point I hope that Dodge would just fold up all together and Ford could pick up the Cummins engine.

67HotRod

Fiat is making those decisions not Dodge/chrysler. The Joy of foreign ownership.

chaikwa

Oh! You were at that Board Meeting too?

I agree with RAMRODD tho, what money could Chrysler possibly be saving by shutting down dealers? All the cars are either bought out-right or floor-planned by the dealer, so essentially the manufacturer gets paid for their product as soon as a new car hits a dealers' lot.

chaikwa.

CamperAndy

Is there anything within 150 miles of anything in ND???

That said there are currently at 27 Dodge dealers in ND so you may lose your local guy but I think if you are buying solely on location of a dealer to get warranty work done you are buying the truck for the wrong reason.

Howy

I can't figure out how some of this is saving money either. We have a dealership in town that sells Chrysler, Jeep, Mazda and Volkswagen. However, the Jeep dealer is about 100 yards down the street at its own lot with Mazda. So, guess what, Chrysler told them they have to close the Jeep dealership and move 100 yards down the street and combine it with the Chrysler lot.

How is this saving money? Not closing it down, but moving it 100 yards down the road?

A bunch of morons that are not likely to get my money in the future. Im thinking Ford may get my business in the future.

Have a good one.

RickG

O . K . , these dealers need to think about something . Some of them have been around for years and have low overhead. They have all the Chrysler tools , TSB's , and manuals . They should consider becoming independent repair shops specializing in Chrysler products .The best part would be they would not be forced to use junk Mopar parts . They could do better repairs than ever .

RAMRODD

27 Dodge dealers I have been to a few of the places listed as dealers. They don't stock any or really sell any. The business wanted a service truck and the boss wanted a new pickup. That is all they get in.
What is wrong with buying a truck you can get serviced if you need to. My 06's only warranty claim was the seat stains. That is the only time it was in the shop. But it is nice knowing that if my truck did break down and I don't have the time to work on it my self. I don't have to haul it across the state to get worked on. Plus with fewer dealerships what do you think is going to happed to the waiting line??

Makes real sence to close a dealer that sells 100's of trucks a year and has been in their new building less then 6 months

I have a Volkswagon TDI and the only dealer is in Fargo. When I got the car I knew this but thought no big deal. Well it is a pain in the rear because I have had to take it theri 6 times so far in 30K Its nice to drive 600 miles to get something fixed. 300 miles to figure out the problum, then they order parts. Then another 300 to get the parts installed. I will never do this again.

Spooler

You have a very legitimate grip. No doubt about it. They will loose customers due to location issues. This is what happens when the government gets involved. They make bad decisions just like this.

CamperAndy

On reconsideration from looking at your signature line no dealer in his right mind would give you warranty.

I guess I have it made I have a dozen Dodge dealers within 50 miles. Good luck with the new Ford.

RAMRODD

Who said I wanted warranty service?? I will pay the bill
The local Dodge dealer has some very good Diesel tecks. Depending on the time of year I have lots of time to work on my truck. When I do, I fix everything myself. But if I don't it goes in for repair.

pronstar

Their words, not mine:

The company, in a motion filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, said it wants to eliminate 789 dealerships by June 9. Many of the dealers' sales are too low, the automaker said. Just over 50 percent of dealers account for about 90 percent of the company's U.S. sales, the motion said.

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 said in its filing that dealers are not competitive enough with foreign brands. Chrysler sold an average of 303 vehicles per dealer in 2008, according to its filing. By contrast, Honda Motor Co. sold about 1,200 vehicles per dealer, while Toyota Motor Corp. sold nearly 1,300 per dealer.

Chrysler said its dealer network "needs to be reduced and reconfigured in a targeted manner to strengthen the network and dealer profitability and to achieve optimal results for the dealers and consumers."

AlpineRAM

I have worked the "other side" during some programming project- not the dealer side, but the corporate side.
At least over here each and every dealer costs the importer or manufacturer money.
First you have to supply the corporate identity stationery, the computer access, marketing material etc.
You need to plan resources to handle the warranty claims by the dealer, keep him in accounting (parts etc) need to track his employees qualifications for the "star" system, track customer satisfaction etc.
At least over here the dealers do pay for the showroom floor vehicles only 90-180 days after delivery to them, and they can return those vehicles. So for each dealer there is a lot of money out... and if you don't see the sales out of these investments it's getting rather unattractive...
And AFAIK Fiat has not yet gained any influence- still preliminary talks...

Just my 2c

AlpineRAM

Ace

Fiat's only gettnig a 20% stake to start with. Options to a max of 55% depending on conditions like opening new manufacturing plants here, etc. I doubt they'll see it through the first five years before something goes fundamentally wrong with the deal.