May 19, 2009 Letter from a Dodge dealer letter to the editor My name is George C. Joseph. I am the sole owner of Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu, a family owned and operated business in Melbourne, Florida. My family bought and paid for this automobile franchise 35 years ago in 1974. I am the second generation to manage this business. We currently employ 50+ people and before the economic slowdown we employed over 70 local people. We are active in the community and the local chamber of commerce. We deal with several dozen local vendors on a day to day basis and many more during a month. All depend on our business for part of their livelihood. We are financially strong with great respect in the market place and community. We have strong local presence and stability. I work every day the store is open, nine to ten hours a day. I know most of our customers and all our employees. Sunshine Dodge is my life. On Thursday, May 14, 2009 I was notified that my Dodge franchise, that we purchased, will be taken away from my family on June 9, 2009 without compensation and given to another dealer at no cost to them. My new vehicle inventory consists of 125 vehicles with a financed balance of 3 million dollars. This inventory becomes impossible to sell with no factory incentives beyond June 9, 2009. Without the Dodge franchise we can no longer sell a new Dodge as "new," nor will we be able to do any warranty service work. Additionally, my Dodge parts inventory, (approximately $300,000.) is virtually worthless without the ability to perform warranty service. There is no offer from Chrysler to buy back the vehicles or parts inventory. Our facility was recently totally renovated at Chrysler's insistence, incurring a multi-million dollar debt in the form of a mortgage at Sun Trust Bank. HOW IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CAN THIS HAPPEN? THIS IS A PRIVATE BUSINESS NOT A GOVERNMENT ENTITY This is beyond imagination! My business is being stolen from me through NO FAULT OF OUR OWN. We did NOTHING wrong. This atrocity will most likely force my family into bankruptcy. This will also cause our 50+ employees to be unemployed. How will they provide for their families? This is a total economic disaster. HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN IN A FREE MARKET ECONOMY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA? I beseech your help, and look forward to your reply. Thank you. Sincerely, George C. Joseph President & Owner Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/05/letter_from_a_dodge_dealer.html
"Free market economy in the USA...?" LOL! Good one! How about "Obama government with it's head so far up your ass you can taste the Brylcreem, Facist economy USA"..?
Chrysler doesn't belong in business. Either the government kills them, or the market. Either way, they deserve to die. While I feel bad for anybody losing their living in this economy, the failure of his dealership is the failure of his company. He says that it's through no fault of their own. That's just not correct. They've built and sold crappy vehicles.
You're living in the 80's. Chrysler ramped the quality on their product line since Iaccoca while GM and Ford slipped. Beyond that, this dealer's story is by no means an isolated one. I gotta believe that there are more than a few big league law firms that are working on disenfranchised dealership class action against Chrysler as well as the government for unlawful seizure of the dealership's franchise title, interference with commerce and a host of other charges that will turn this "quick" bankruptcy into a quagmire. Not that the right people will win out in the end, that is, unless you're rooting for the lawyers...
Sure, Chrysler does not deserve to be in business. But what on earth gives union workers the right to retain nearly 55% of the company after restructuring when dealers and debt holders are left eating dust? If there is one thing we all learned under the current administration is that the hierarchy of capital structure does not exist.
Chrysler building shitty cars is no fault of the dealership... I fail to see how this guy is personally responsible for the unsold cars and parts in his inventory however. Aren't these cars and parts the property of Chrysler (i.e. consignment)? Or does each dealership act as its own separate entity, buying cars and parts from Chrysler and then reselling them to customers? I was under the impression that cars and parts were given to dealerships on consignment, in which case the shut down dealerships could simply return the unsold merchandise. Am I wrong here?
It's so sick what's happening. It's been said to death on these forums but Socialism is alive and well in the USSA.