Chrysler Works to Restore 86 Rejected Dealerships - not April Fools Day!

[Magnumcharger]

Chrysler announced today that it will extend offers to nearly 50 rejected dealerships to restore their franchise agreements.

That's a sharp turnaround from the automaker's previous stance. As recently as last week, Chrysler held firm in its belief that it wouldn't reinstate any additional dealers questioning their termination. According to a release issued by the automaker, the dealers are located in areas that "offer customer service benefits, and will have limited adverse impact on the dealers within our current network."

Chrysler also revealed it already extended sales and service agreements to 36 additional dealerships since July, bringing the grand total to 86 dealers.

Still, that leaves quite a few dealers out in the cold. During Chrysler's bankruptcy filing, nearly 789 Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep franchise agreements were terminated in an attempt to parse the automaker's dealer network. In January, 418 of the rejected dealers filed for arbitration, hoping for another chance to sell Mopar machinery.

General Motors faced similar dealer-instigated arbitration after it dismissed nearly 1160 franchises during its bankruptcy. The automaker recently revealed that it is working to revive nearly 580 of the terminated showrooms.

Source: Chrysler




Read more: http://wot.motortrend.com/6626620/auto-news/chrysler-works-to-restore-86-rejected-dealerships/index.html#ixzz0k9XoSPxu

[moparstuart]

hopefully they pick the right ones

[TruckDriver]

That will be interesting to see how well that works out considering that Chrysler is still loosing their ass. They were the only U.S. car maker that didn't make a profit last quarter.

[bull]

Chrysler is expected to break even by the end of the year. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/business/31auto.html?scp=2&sq=chrysler&st=cse

The good thing Chrysler has going for it is that if it does turn a profit it will do it on its own steam without being majority-owned by the government (like GM).

55% will be owned by the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA, which I think basically is the UAW), 10% shared proportionally between U.S. and Canadian governments, 20% owned by Fiat. Remaining 15% of company will be distributed to Fiat in three 5% increments...

[Ghoste]

I think the thing that stood mostly in the way for Chrysler last 1/4 was lack of product.  At least talking to the dealers around here, they are saying that they aren't having any problems selling cars, they haven't been able to get the cars has been the only holdup.
A fallout from idling their assembly and parts facilities I suppose?

[Magnumcharger]

Yes, the fallout of the financial crisis is a complete re-establishment of all of Chrysler's business practices....including the re-signing of contracts with suppliers, and delivery contractors.

And I'm feeling the effects on a personal level:

On November 2nd, I ordered a Plum Crazy Purple Challenger R/T Classic. On November 4th, Chrysler held a press conference and sent information to it'd dealer web informing all of their future plans with Fiat, and giving an overview of their new business model. Up to that point, My dealership wasn't even sure if they would be in business for 2010.
My car was initially to be built on 11 January 2010. Because of the plant shutdown over Christmas, my car wasn't going to be built until after the plant was brought back online.
Production restarted on January 18th, and my build was now back-logged.
Because I ordered the "Super track pak" option, supplies weren't delivered to co-incide with my build date, and my car was again delayed until after Feb 6th. Somehow my Challenger got built on Feb 4th, which makes it one of the very first Super track pak equipped Challengers. (Yes, it has the option).
After being built, it was placed in storage both at the plant, then at various yards until the subcontractor - Ground Effects Ltd - could apply the stripes. This finally took place at the end of March.
After waiting in storage at a trainyard, it was eventually loaded to be shipped last week and has finally arrived at a local trainyard where it is scheduled to be unloaded tomorrow. This isn't the end though....it has yet to be loaded on a car carrier and transported to my dealership. The tenative arrival date is now 12 April.
This means its been a full five months of waiting for this car to arrive.
At least I don't have to wait for the snow to melt before I can drive it!