Interesting Article on the "New" GM and its Dealers

[Dallara]

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Here's an interesting read on what GM is planning to do with its surviving dealers...

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...s-dealer-rules

Not sure they can force a dealer to drop existing lines they have, nor even force those lines off just their showrooms, at least not in certain states.

Dallara


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[RWFJR]

Good article...thanks for the heads-up. I am afraid though, with the government being a majority stock holder in GM and the way the current administration is acting, GM may be forced to sell tin can 4drs with lawn mower engines or at least an electric car with a top speed of 35 MPH!

Thank God I got my V2 now and not later...

[gothicaleigh]

Originally Posted by RWFJR

Good article...thanks for the heads-up. I am afraid though, with the government being a majority stock holder in GM and the way the current administration is acting, GM may be forced to sell tin can 4drs with lawn mower engines or at least an electric car with a top speed of 35 MPH!
Thank God I got my V2 now and not later...

I don't know... I think I could be talked into driving Cadillac's electric car...

[RWFJR]

Originally Posted by gothicaleigh

I don't know... I think I could be talked into driving Cadillac's electric car...

It's nice for sure but it ain't a V2...

[vperl]

and the range 49 miles depending if you go up a hill

[jvp]

Originally Posted by vperl

and the range 49 miles depending if you go up a hill

No, the range is 40+ miles on the battery alone, before the gasoline motor kicks in and provides charge.

jas

[vperl]

Originally Posted by jvp

No, the range is 40+ miles on the battery alone, before the gasoline motor kicks in and provides charge.

jas

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

if your going electric go electric.....

throw in a squirrel, not a gas engine

When the thing gets 200Plus on one charge and you can recharge in under one hour give me a call. Till then I'll burn fossil fuel

[Superior Cadillac]

don't forget to feed them acorns too..


They might work harder.
lol

[Luna.]

Originally Posted by Dallara

Not sure they can force a dealer to drop existing lines they have, nor even force those lines off just their showrooms, at least not in certain states.
Dallara
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Eh, not sure about that.

GM has ~2,400 dealers that will sell tangerines if they want them to...

[vperl]

Originally Posted by Superior Cadillac

don't forget to feed them acorns too..


They might work harder.
lol

*************************************

Actually here in Oregon we feed them Filberts, as last resort, walnuts.

If we are short of feed then we supply them the "leftist" nuts that abound here in great quanity.

[Dallara]

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Originally Posted by Luna.

Eh, not sure about that.

GM has ~2,400 dealers that will sell tangerines if they want them to...

Well, as a former automobile dealer - including at one time one store that sold every GM brand except Cadillac. Other store was a Lincoln-Mercury/Jeep/Subaru store - I can say the dealer sales agreements manufacturers have with dealers do not necessarily allow them to dictate such terms... Particularly if the dealer has sufficient market penetration, CSI scores, etc.

And here in Texas state law, and the TMVC, trumps the dealer sales agreements, and the manufacturers are severely limited in how they can strong-arm dealers regardless of what the sales agreement say.

I can give you some examples if you like...

Dallara


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[cmicasa]

Originally Posted by vperl

and the range 49 miles depending if you go up a hill

Actually the range for the car would be about 600 miles per tank. The 40 of that would be on ELECTRIC only. Current mules have about 150HP and 273lbs of torque.

[cmicasa]

Dealers, IMO should have appealed to both GM/Chrysler and the Taskforce for their own viability in a way that would have had the company and Gov both re-thinking the need for their shuttering.

The BK essentially alleviates the Companies from having to keep them.. but it should have been made apparent that these dealers could exist without being a DRAW on the companies


If they were great performing dealerships...they should be POed... all of them should. But they could have stopped it in much the same way that the 30 or so dealers that GM has rescinded have pulled someting outta a hat.

And mind U that this train of thought was PRE-TASKFORCE. Jerry York constantly raved about it during Kerkorian's time of ownership in 10% of GM.

My solution would be that all remaining dealerships can stay in business but must handle all of their own advertising, all dealership revisions and maintenance... and any other costs associated with being a dealer. I would even go so far as to say that I would implement a TIER level program where:

1)TIER 3:

A New Dealer with no proven sales would have to take the hard route. Apply for SBA loans etc to get started, or even corporate financing to have a store built but with adequate collateral to cover any possible failure. This tier would handle all of it's own advertising.

2) Tier 2:

A dealer that has reached a certain preset sales number. That dealer would get rewarded with some Corporate participation including advertising and renovation costs help, but with a NON-COMPETE and CORPORATE ownership of at least 10-15% of the dealership, with 50% of the corresponding (of the 15% ownership)profits coming back to the corporation and the other half going into an account to cover corporate share of advertising and renovation costs.


All dealerships would be subject to inspection in an effort to have dealers that have stores that look the part and function in a way that expressly favors an excellent customer experience. The INSPECTOR would be employed by the Corporation, but INSPECTIONS would be paid for by the dealer.

[vperl]

Originally Posted by cmicasa

Actually the range for the car would be about 600 miles per tank. The 40 of that would be on ELECTRIC only. Current mules have about 150HP and 273lbs of torque.

****************************
my point is unless it is in fact "ELECTRIC" not fossil fuel, and gets 200plus miles on ONE charge and can be recharged in 30-45 minutes or so ..... go away do not bother me...

Electric car is Electric if you have electic vehicles

I'll go with my squirrels, as suggested by Scott.

[Luna.]

Originally Posted by Dallara

Well, as a former automobile dealer - including at one time one store that sold every GM brand except Cadillac. Other store was a Lincoln-Mercury/Jeep/Subaru store - I can say the dealer sales agreements manufacturers have with dealers do not necessarily allow them to dictate such terms... Particularly if the dealer has sufficient market penetration, CSI scores, etc.

And here in Texas state law, and the TMVC, trumps the dealer sales agreements, and the manufacturers are severely limited in how they can strong-arm dealers regardless of what the sales agreement say.

I can give you some examples if you like...

Dallara

I don't disagree with you. I think you're missing my point though.

If GM wants to stop distributing cars to such dealership/shut them down, you're screwed, much like these 2,400 dealers across the nation. GM holds all the cards, as they are supplying you with your product to make money. They take that away, how are you going to make money/stay in business?

It's like an "internal auditor" that (cough) reports to the Audit Committee chairman, yet management works with him/her on a daily basis and basically has the ability to hire/fire such person.

Well, they can draw it up anyway they like on the Organization Chart that such auditor reports directly to the audit committee chair, but if management has the ability to hire and fire such person---who do you think they REALLY report to???

No, make no mistake about it, GM can exert tremendous influence over these dealers, especially in BK courts.