Dealer group rallies

By Geert De Lombaerde Posted on May 6, 2009 at 2:41 pm

Russ Darrow, chairman of the American International Automobile Dealers Association, offers a response to the “growing and unsettling wave of anti-dealer rhetoric in the news.”

The Obama administration’s auto task force and the executives of Chrysler and General Motors seem to think cutting their dealer bodies will solve all their problems. In truth, they are digging themselves deeper into a retail hole. I can’t believe our government or anyone else thinks GM or Chrysler can make more money with 20-30 percent fewer retailed customers – their dealers.

And it is not just automakers who will suffer when dealers close up shop. Communities of every size and in every region of this country rely on dealerships to act as a major employer and tax base, and to support local teams and charities. When dealerships go, they leave a vacuum that won’t be filled in these difficult economic times.

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Tags: American International Automobile Dealers Association, auto dealerships, Chrysler LLC, General Motors Corp., government intervention, retail, Russ Darrow