plus 3, Automotive dealers fight closures - Asbury Park Press

Automotive dealers fight closures - Asbury Park Press
R.L. Polk, DataLogix Offer Household Automotive Data Product - Direct
Bud Brown Automotive gains Volkswagen dealership - Kansas City Star
New hearings set for Champion Automotive Group - Coloradoan

Automotive dealers fight closures - Asbury Park Press

Posted: 26 Jan 2010 10:36 PM PST

DETROIT — More than half of the nearly 2,800 dealers General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC want to close are appealing those decisions, the group handling the appeals said Tuesday.

Among the dealers participating: Schwartz & Sons in Shrewsbury, which still hasn't been told by Chrysler why it was on its closure list.

"What I hope happens is they do the right thing and reinstate the dealership they took from me without cause," said co-owner Jim Schwartz.

The American Arbitration Association said 1,550 dealers filed the paperwork needed to contest the closures by the midnight Tuesday deadline. The group said that number could go higher as more appeals arrive in the mail.

Meanwhile, Chrysler is weighing a federal lawsuit to stop the appeals, with sources close to the automaker saying the appeals process could cost it hundreds of millions of dollars. The sources asked not to be identified because a decision hasn't been made.

Chrysler last May filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced it would 789 dealers nationwide, including Schwartz, Sansone Plaza Dodge in Neptune, and Causeway Jeep in Stafford. General Motors hasn't disclosed which of its dealerships are slated to close.

Schwartz said the closing of his 75-year-old Chrysler dealership forced him to lay off two employees and shift most of his other workers to a four-day work week. The company still has a Mazda dealership.

Schwartz said Chrysler never explained why his dealership was targeted.

"Chrysler has really decided they're going to fight everything tooth and nail and try and justify what they've done," Schwartz said. "I think they'll find more often than not that they're going to lose their argument, and I'm not sure what the reason was that they closed my dealership."

Paul Sansone Jr., owner of Sansone Jr.'s Route 66 Auto Mall in Neptune, said he wasn't appealing Chrysler's decision because the financial prospects weren't rosy enough to justify the fight.

A spokesperson for Causeway Jeep in Stafford, which was also on the target list, could not be reached for comment.

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R.L. Polk, DataLogix Offer Household Automotive Data Product - Direct

Posted: 26 Jan 2010 04:16 PM PST

R. L. Polk & Co. and DataLogix have joined forces to bring DataLogix's online household targeting capabilities to Polk's automotive segmenting capabilities.

The joint offering combines DataLogix' DLX Platform with Polk's Total Market Predictor. Marketers will be able to mine a variety of automotive information and purchase propensity data for use in online campaigns.

Among its other offerings, DataLogix houses a database of store-keeping unit (SKU) level consumer discretionary purchasing behavior. R. L. Polk & Co. provides automotive information and marketing solutions.

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Bud Brown Automotive gains Volkswagen dealership - Kansas City Star

Posted: 26 Jan 2010 08:34 PM PST

Bud Brown Automotive will operate a new Volkswagen dealership in Olathe beginning next month.

The company lost its Chrysler franchise in June, along with hundreds of other dealers. It will move from its Overland Park location Feb. 8 when it opens the Volkswagen store at 925 N. Rawhide Drive, company president Phil Brown said Tuesday.

Bud Brown Volkswagen will be the third Volkswagen franchise in the area and the first in Johnson County since Baron Automotive Group dropped the brand in September 2008.

Bud Brown has been selling used cars since Chrysler entered bankruptcy reorganization and dropped nearly 800 dealers from its network.

Phil Brown said the company was able to remain in business while seeking the Volkswagen franchise.

"We've had to learn a lot, operating as an independent dealer," he said. "But we were well capitalized, and we've been able to make the transition. We've been around for 60-plus years, and we were fortunate to have a loyal group of employees and customers."

Most of the nearly 50 employees will be moving to the new location, he said.

To reach Randolph Heaster, call 816-234-4746.

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New hearings set for Champion Automotive Group - Coloradoan

Posted: 26 Jan 2010 02:29 PM PST

New hearings have been set for August and September in the ongoing issue regarding the suspension of Iron Mountain Autoplex's license for allegedly failing to pay off liens on trade-in vehicles.

Today, five separate hearings from Aug. 30 through Sept. 3 were scheduled for Champion Automotive Group to address the suspension of Iron Mountain Autoplex's license, according to Julie Postlethwait, spokeswoman for the state department of personnel and administration.

Previous hearings scheduled in early December were continued until Jan. 4. However, when no settlement was reached by that time, all parties scheduled a conference call for 11 a.m. today to schedule the new hearing dates.

Craig Joyce, director of Fairfield and Woods, P.C., representing Champion Automotive Group, said Monday in a phone interview that he is hopeful that they will still come to an agreement prior to the new hearing dates.

The dealership's license was suspended July 17, 2009 for unpaid liens on 31 trade-in vehicles, according to Affidavits of Probable Cause filed by the Colorado Department of Revenue. Chamberlain, has paid off all $432,000 in liens on trade-in vehicles, according to Joyce.

More than 100 employees lost their jobs in August when The Iron Mountain Autoplex, 871 Champion Drive in Windsor, closed when Chamberlain voluntarily surrendered the dealership to Chrysler.

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