More GM Troubles?

With all the rumors of Robby possibly headed back to Chevy, I thought this was of interest...

"Scottsdale, AZ., Sept. 24, 2008 - According to Automotive News' Chrissie Thompson, Bill Heard Enterprises, the country's top Chevrolet dealer group, is closing the doors at all of its 13 dealerships at the end of business today, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

The company notified the stores' general managers at 2 p.m. today, the source said, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak.

High fuel prices, cancelled floorplanning from GMAC Financial Services, a reliance on trucks and SUVs, a soft national economy and struggles in local markets had troubled the company, which on Sept. 12 closed its store in Scottsdale, Ariz.

In the end, the company could not raise operating capital and could not finance its floorplan, the source said. Company officials have discussed closing the company since Friday, the source said.

Bill Heard Enterprises, of Columbus, Ga., ranks No. 13 on the Automotive News list of the top 125 U.S. dealership groups, with 2007 group revenue of $2.13 billion.

I have read that if GMAC started having trouble, that would be big trouble for GM.
To let the #1 Chevy dealer go belly up is uncharacteristic. Could be just the beginning.

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Permalink Reply by Turtle7 on September 25, 2008 at 8:31am
A seperate Bill is floating through Congress right now to give the US auto industry 25 billion along with credits for alternative engery, hybrid cars, etc. Total price tag is around 100 billion that we no longer have.
Permalink Reply by Michael on September 25, 2008 at 10:22am
I work in the auto industry supplying marketing services to dealerships. It is really really bad right now. The problem is directly related to the economic discussion in the news. Dealerships can't get loans for consumers, so even though they may have some willing buyers...they can't secure financing. If the dealers can't move cars, they need to hold stagnant inventory which requires credit. The house of cards is caving in... as the well is dry.

Hopefully this bailout will loosen things up before it is too late.
Permalink Reply by Lance on September 25, 2008 at 11:12am
I pray that whomever become president whether it be McCain or Obama will have the wisdom to fix this mess.
Permalink Reply by WJM on September 25, 2008 at 1:09pm
The family-owned mom and pop dealers are also closing. Bell Motor Co. in Leonardtown, MD. They started selling farm tractors in the 20's. The Bell family is closing their doors the end of this month with 35 employees losing their jobs after 85 years in business.
http://www.somdnews.com/stories/09242008/entetop165740_32193.shtml

It's sad, but there's some truth that there needs to be a "thinning of the herd." The Detroit Three have a glut of dealerships with overlapping territories. When Detroit started closing divisions many Mercury dealers became Ford dealers, Oldsmobile dealers became Chevy dealers, Plymouth dealers became Dodge dealers adding to an already crowded market.
Permalink Reply by john mcglasson on September 25, 2008 at 1:29pm
The US auto industry is in trouble for one reason and one reason only, because they allowed themselves to be extorted by the UAW into becoming a welfare state, paying people who retired decades ago full wages and benefits. The quality of US cars is sub-par at best compared to the Euro or Japanese equivilent, period. Now they run commercials that don't say "we make a better truck, buy it", they claim to have built the truck that "stood by America" and that we now owe them the same in return. No bailout is going to fix the US auto industry, it destroyed itself.

I'm not trying to start a fight with UAW members on this site, I'm sorry for the situation your leadership has you in, this is about GM management and UAW leadership, not the people who're caught in the middle. I know some of them, and in private they agree, but they fear the union. that's what unions do.
Permalink Reply by deantac on September 25, 2008 at 2:06pm
Hey john, from all my union bros. to you FUCK YOU SCAB. ILWU LOCAL 30.
Permalink Reply by john mcglasson on September 25, 2008 at 4:09pm
Unoin power at work. Right back atcha buddy.
Permalink Reply by WJM on September 25, 2008 at 2:12pm
I agree that the UAW is partly responsible for the Detroit Three's troubles but they're not the sole reason. The UAW has to an extent over the past 50 years bent the automakers over but in doing so they've also succeeded in spoiling their members with wages and benefits, when compared to the rest of the private sector in terms of skill level, that approached absurdity. For example, in the early 70's I had a neighbor, dumb as a fuckin' brick, that worked on the assembly line at the GM plant in Fremont, CA. His only job on the line was to tighten 4 bolts on the front bumper. He made $18.75 per hour (this was in 1972), and he still bitched constantly about not getting enough overtime.

Detroit has a long history of poor planning, overlapping model lines, and throwing all their eggs into one basket. Most recently, the SUV market. Look at Chrysler, that don't have anything notable in the pipeline for production for another two years. GM, all they need is two divisions: Chevrolet and Cadillac. Ford did the right thing by dumping the Mercury division and when compared to GM and Chrysler, have shown more forethought in planning although their still well behind in hybrid development.
Permalink Reply by Mike/WC77 on September 25, 2008 at 2:46pm
John, you're wrong about one thing in your post. The current build quality of GM vehicles is as good, or better than any damn foriegn POS you can find. I can tell you factually, I have a friend that does the billing for a local store here. This store sells Chevy, Caddy, mazda, mitsu, kia,& subaru. The warranty repairs on some of those rice burners are 3X the Chevys. I don't mean price mind you (allthough that can be astronomical too), I mean quantity of repairs. Oh, lemme bring in the fact that sceduled maintenance,& parts cost is less, on just about all American vehicles, than their overseas counterparts. You are right about one thing, the cost of every GM retiree (who by the way is Americas largest retiree benifets provider) is intigrated into every car they sell. I'm not sayin thats bad, I'd like to have company beni's till the day I die, but it's in there.
Permalink Reply by Sarah on September 25, 2008 at 3:57pm
I am in a unique position to comment on the quality of GM vs Toyota. My work is related to both product lines.
1) Yes there are some models of Gm that are as good as the Toyotas. HOWEVER, I have discovered the Toyota service customers are better educated to performing regular maintenance on their vehicles long before the Gm customers do. In the business we call the GM customers “need customers” as they need repairs usually resulting from NOT doing more simple repairs or maintenance repairs in a more timely fashion. Toyota customers are called “want customers” as they will come in, almost to the minute, for a simple oil change when it is due. Now there are exceptions to both rules, but for the most part this is the way I see it.
2) There is very little pride in owning a GM product anymore. No pride= no need to take care of it as you won’t keep the product. Is that a fault of GM advertising?!?
3) NEVER, EVER buy a GM product who’s VIN begins with a 3!! It means it was made in Mexico and more times than not, these are the ones needing the most repairs. Ask GM why the Cavalier model died.
4) I have friends in both car lines and my understanding is the # of GM warranty repairs far outweigh the Toyota side. Maybe because of item 1??
5) Try to get good customer service from the factory with GM. There are so many hoops to go thru; service customers get frustrated and leave the brand. Toyota knocks themselves out for customer service even giving to many who do not deserve it. Toyota techs are encouraged to do product reports and warranty administrators know Toyota wants the part #’s off of every bad part so they can fix patterns. (i.e.: poor vendors, mis-builds, etc.) Again there may be exceptions to the rule.
Watch what you call American made anymore too. So many so called American made cars are made in Canada, Mexico, China, etc and some of the foreign ones are made here. Then there is a whole other side to "assembled" and what country that occurs. Do your homework and read the VIN when in doubt.
Ok- getting off my soap box now! LOL
Permalink Reply by john mcglasson on September 25, 2008 at 4:11pm
Show me any American car still running after 300,000 miles. I'll show you thousands of BMW's that are. I may pay more at first, but in the long run, I'm waaaaaaaaay ahead.
Permalink Reply by Sarah on September 25, 2008 at 4:22pm
John they exist. They just have owners that take care of them! I personally was with a Chevy Service Rep. looking at a 95 Caprice with 700,000 miles on it a few years ago. The car was a lead vehicle for the "Wide Load" vehicles etc. You know the ones with the yellow flashing lights and signs. The driver had traveled the country many times over. The Caprice had a new engine at 500,000 miles and a transmission at 600,000 , but otherwise looked good. The reason we were able to view it was the driver had stopped into a dealership to do maintenance. (Refer to my post above!)

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