Although a dozen of Oklahoma’s Chrysler dealerships will more than likely cease to exist in the near future, the Automax in Shawnee will remain open and avoid the fate of 789 U.S. dealers, most of whom received their walking papers in the form of a UPS letter Thursday.
Greg Herndon, general manager of Automax in Shawnee, could not be reached for comment Thursday but the dealership wasn’t on a list of dealers to be closed, which Chrysler filed Thursday at a bankruptcy court in New York.
According to court documents, Chrysler currently has 3,200 dealerships in the U.S. and is seeking to close those that don’t produce high-enough sales and are in diminishing markets. In papers filed in court Thursday, the company also cited an outdated network of dealers, a disproportionate spreading of sales among dealers and too much competition with itself as some of the contributing factors to the dealership cutbacks.
Under its current plan, which seeks to eliminate the dealerships by June 9, car lots in Stillwater, Bartlesville, Clinton, Lawton, Enid, Durant, Stigler, Fairview, Atoka and Cordell will be closed following approval from the court reviewing the company’s bankruptcy case. Stillwater and Lawton, if the plan is approved, will lose two dealerships apiece.
Chrysler lost around $17 million last year and the company is surviving on billions in government bailout funds as it struggles to make its way out of bankruptcy court. New and used auto sales are down sharply across the U.S. and local dealers are expecting 2009 to be one of the worst ever.
News for other dealers in the Shawnee area may not be so rosy.
General Motors, which recently announced plans to axe its Pontiac brand and cut tens of thousands of jobs, also revealed it would reduce the number of dealers selling its vehicles by 40 percent - or roughly 2,600 dealerships.
Brackeen Motors and Harvey’s, both GM dealers, could find out as early as today whether they’ll be in the car-selling business at the end of 2010.
During a recent interview with the News-Star, Gary Brackeen, owner of Brackeen Motors, said he was “uncertain” about the dealership’s future - or that of the auto-making industry - and that today’s market is by far the worst he’s seen since he began selling cars in 1970.
Watch for further updates as this story continues to unfold.
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Andrew Knittle may be reached at 214-3926.
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Although a dozen of Oklahoma’s Chrysler dealerships will more than likely cease to exist in the near future, the Automax in Shawnee will remain open and avoid the fate of 789 U.S. dealers, most of whom received their walking papers in the form of a UPS letter Thursday.
Greg Herndon, general manager of Automax in Shawnee, could not be reached for comment Thursday but the dealership wasn’t on a list of dealers to be closed, which Chrysler filed Thursday at a bankruptcy court in New York.
According to court documents, Chrysler currently has 3,200 dealerships in the U.S. and is seeking to close those that don’t produce high-enough sales and are in diminishing markets. In papers filed in court Thursday, the company also cited an outdated network of dealers, a disproportionate spreading of sales among dealers and too much competition with itself as some of the contributing factors to the dealership cutbacks.
Under its current plan, which seeks to eliminate the dealerships by June 9, car lots in Stillwater, Bartlesville, Clinton, Lawton, Enid, Durant, Stigler, Fairview, Atoka and Cordell will be closed following approval from the court reviewing the company’s bankruptcy case. Stillwater and Lawton, if the plan is approved, will lose two dealerships apiece.
Chrysler lost around $17 million last year and the company is surviving on billions in government bailout funds as it struggles to make its way out of bankruptcy court. New and used auto sales are down sharply across the U.S. and local dealers are expecting 2009 to be one of the worst ever.
News for other dealers in the Shawnee area may not be so rosy.
General Motors, which recently announced plans to axe its Pontiac brand and cut tens of thousands of jobs, also revealed it would reduce the number of dealers selling its vehicles by 40 percent - or roughly 2,600 dealerships.
Brackeen Motors and Harvey’s, both GM dealers, could find out as early as today whether they’ll be in the car-selling business at the end of 2010.
During a recent interview with the News-Star, Gary Brackeen, owner of Brackeen Motors, said he was “uncertain” about the dealership’s future - or that of the auto-making industry - and that today’s market is by far the worst he’s seen since he began selling cars in 1970.
Watch for further updates as this story continues to unfold.
---
Andrew Knittle may be reached at 214-3926.
