GM Trimming dealers by about 1/3

[Mr Bogus]

GM is planning on dumping 2600 of 6200 dealers.. I am curious where they (the Govt) is going to recover all this tax revenue? Was this part of the game plan when they (the Govt) took control of the auto industry?

What about customer service? I know that at the dealers I worked for, it was often a few days before we could get cars in as it was.. Has this changed?

Maybe this is going to change the independent shop picture? It will surely have to push labor rates up a bit as demand goes up..

Any dealership Techs or sales people comment?

 

[BA BUSA]

I heard 1100 out of 6500...
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[BlueHaya]

started Friday with letters.

 

[Commuta_Busa]

These are my biggest concerns. Service may decrease while the cost goes higher.

I think the independant shops are going to see more business regardless. More people may have to hold on to their cars a bit longer and if they're smart they'll understand the benefits of scheduled maintenance.

What about customer service?
It will surely have to push labor rates up

 

[BlueHaya]

i dont see how this will save GM or Chrysler $$.

I understand the concept of the cars on the lots....but you will now have fewer dealers and obviously fewer cars (the reason for the move), and obviously fewer selections (due to less cars), and obviously fewer competing dealers (due to closures), and obviously higher demand (less cars and dealers) and obviously high prices due to supply and demand. Although no demand for high price vehicles is what got them here in the first place.

This will drive the dealer to sell other brands.....what else would they do? So now we will have more Nissan, Toyota, ...etc dealers?

Why not just order them out of a catalog or online?.....then they can justify the outrageous transportation fee you pay when you buy a new car.

 

[Red05]

General Motors had to streamline their operation, and cutting down on the number of lines and dealerships is only part of it. The way I understand it, the decision is theirs, not the White House. The government only stipulated that GM show to be financially viable in reference to the financial help they recieved. The service department here has experienced a huge downturn in business, and as far as tax revenue, spreading it over fewer dealers (especially in areas that are saturated in dealers) shouldn't have an effect. I agree that there are too many similar models within the GM brand, and that in many cities there are too many dealers. It seems like a good start to me.

 

[Red05]

i dont see how this will save GM or Chrysler $$.

GM helps the dealers with advertising and floor plans. Fewer dealers means less advertising $ and the bigger dealers handle the floor plans better than the smaller ones.

 

[BlueHaya]

GM helps the dealers with advertising and floor plans. Fewer dealers means less advertising $ and the bigger dealers handle the floor plans better than the smaller ones.

ok...getting clearer.

 

[Vonderbach]

Curious to know how many people were buying domestic cars because of the relationship with their dealer, and how many bought them simply because they were American made. I know a lot of older folks that frequent the same dealer because they have a favorite salesman. How many of those favorite salespeople are going to gain employment with another auto dealer that might be selling imports? And when they do, they'll be calling up their client list, guaranteed.

Every dealer was not only a profit center, they were a billboard too. I hope the savings is worth it.

 

[afterhours]

its not a question of "is it worth it"......the fact is, it did not work.

the giant that was GM is dead, due to the way they ran thier business. in order to survive it must change, this is one of the changes.

GM must be leaner, better run and more efficient......but this will all be a waste unless the unions start renegotiating those contracts.

 

[Red05]

Vonderbach, you bring up a good point. The relationship between customer and a particular sales person has become less and less prominent as the internet and customer savy have gained momentum. This is part of the problems facing GM. GM failed to evolve as the market changed. I work out every morning with the top salesman at our dealership and he is thoroughly frustrated with the way that sales has changed in the last 10 years or so. There is still the occasional older, loyal customer, but it's not enough to survive these days.

 

[shadetree57]

The vehicle inventory at the dealerships here is really low. The chevrolet,cadillac dealer closed a few months ago due to bad management. I can only hope our business picks up but it ain't lookin good. We're a small independant garage and do diagnostics and AC mainly. The dealers seem to be staying pretty busy in the shops but it may be warrenty jobs. Good luck to all you tecks out there.

 

[ajblbv]

I agree scheduling service is now going to be a pain.....I have an 04 durango and dependign on the issue I only trust it at the dealership for service, because if it isn't something I can do myself chances are you need the dodge computer hookups to track down the exact problem, which is something many independent places do not have.....and as far as PepBoys I have had too many bad experiences with them to ever go back.

Flipside, I see why GM has to thin out their structure to have a proper footprint in markets instead of flooding the markets.

 

[BlueHaya]

I have only bought GM....so I hope they pull through stronger and better. Maybe even lower their prices some....I would love to get a new Camaro to go with my old one. And it is getting close to time to trade off the wifeys Trailblazer.

 

[Red05]

I have only bought GM....so I hope they pull through stronger and better. Maybe even lower their prices some....I would love to get a new Camaro to go with my old one. And it is getting close to time to trade off the wifeys Trailblazer.

Good man

 

[Mr Bogus]

I heard 1100 out of 6500...
Posted via Mobile Device

1100 is only stage one, they have 2300 slated for elimination nation wide..

GM Press News:

TROUBLED auto giant General Motors says it will seek to eliminate nearly 40 per cent of its US dealers or more than 2300 sales outlets by the end of next year as part of its reorganization.

GM said overnight: "This process starts today," with the notification of about 1100 "underperforming and very small sales volume US dealers" that "will be advised that GM does not see them as part of its dealer network on a long-term basis".

 

[lexuspartsdude]

Good man

Are you congratulating someone for purchasing a GM vehicle because it is not an import? Is this not a forum based on the love of a certain JAPANESE bike?

 

[Zoinks!]

GM is planning on dumping 2600 of 6200 dealers.. I am curious where they (the Govt) is going to recover all this tax revenue? Was this part of the game plan when they (the Govt) took control of the auto industry?

What about customer service? I know that at the dealers I worked for, it was often a few days before we could get cars in as it was.. Has this changed?

Maybe this is going to change the independent shop picture? It will surely have to push labor rates up a bit as demand goes up..

Any dealership Techs or sales people comment?

YES! It has changed dramatically! I worked in a GM service department for two and a half years and the business was rediculously slow. It wasn't bad in 07, in fact, it was decent, but the middle to the end of 08 things started going downhill fast. By the time I left (December of 08) I was turning about 20-25 hours a week and the other guys in the shop were averaging anywhere from the high 20s to mid 30s. They got more work than I did, so they could turn more hours. I was partly on sallary and partly comission, so the other techs needed the work more than I did. Anyway, a few weeks ago I was hanging out with a friend that I used to work with down there and he said that week they had 0 cars come in for service. Maybe some oil changes, but as far as other repairs go, they had nothing. With this economy, people just aren't getting their cars worked on. If it can go a little longer before it seriously NEEDS work, they won't take it in. That's why I left. I'm back in school for nursing now. You may be able to let your car go untill it needs serious repairs, but if you do that with your body you die. Job security and better pay FTW. GM has been cutting back for a while now, though. They started with getting rid of the most unproductive techs. The ones that weren't turning enough hours, they started getting rid of. Then they started getting rid of entire dealers who were producing the least amount of profit. Now that action has apparently been significantly increased...

 

[Zoinks!]

Oh, and as for the independants. . . They've been doing better than dealers for a LOOOOONG time. You would be surprised at the number of customers who come in and just want their car diagnosed because they're having the repairs done somewhere else. A lot of dealers were starting to impliment one of two different policies. One was that if you get the vehicle diagnosed there, you have to get it repaired there. No JUST diagnostics. Or, if you got the repair done at the dealer, the diagnosis was free, but if you only got it diagnosed, you had to pay for it. The problem for independants is that automakers are making it harder and harder for independants to work on new stuff. So many things require special tools or dealer-only service information that it makes it hard on independants. And pretty much anything electronic you can almost guarantee it's going to need programing with an MDI wich is an interface that plugs to the diagnostic port and has to be used with GM Service Programing only available to GM dealerships and you have to have a GM Service Tech login ID and password to get in.

 

[Red05]

Are you congratulating someone for purchasing a GM vehicle because it is not an import? Is this not a forum based on the love of a certain JAPANESE bike?

Not at all. I drive a Miata LOL. I've worked for GM dealerships since the 70's, so I was appreciating BlueHaya's support.