New car dealers across the country are having to adjust to a new reality as the Big Three pare back their offerings, brands, and even dealer networks.
GM last week announced it was killing off the Pontiac brand and cutting back its dealership network by a third.
Franchisees of Chrysler LLC are dealing with the added wrinkle of Chrysler having declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, a first for a major Detroit automaker.
Matt Mayse, general manager of Mayse Automotive, said that while there were major changes going on in the national industry, the effect on the Aurora GM dealership should be minimal.
“It’s really going to affect us very little; Pontiac was less that four percent of our new sales last year,” said Mayse. “And as far as used sales, we’re always in the Missouri top three.”
Mayse said that of 1,149 new cars the Mayse group sold last year, only 52 were Pontiacs.
While noting some local GM dealers have closed recently, Mayse said that the automaker will be focusing on the 19 largest markets in the U.S. and consolidating multiple brands into one showroom.
“The small-town, rural dealers they aren’t going to mess with,” said Mayse. “We’re already seeing a positive improvement from fewer being out there.”
Mayse said most of the dealers that will be closing are those with poor sales, poor capitalization, and poor customer satisfaction.
“I think everything they’re doing is great,” said Mayse. “They’re trying to get everything organized the way they should.”
Representatives were not availabe to comment for the local Chrysler franchisee, Gary Wood Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep, due to ongoing meetings within the Chrysler organization responding to the automaker’s situation.
