Posted on 05/19/2009 10:29:47 AM PDT by American Dream 246
My name is George C. Joseph. I am the sole owner of Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu, a family owned and operated business in Melbourne, Florida. My family bought and paid for this automobile franchise 35 years ago in 1974. I am the second generation to manage this business.
We currently employ 50+ people and before the economic slowdown we employed over 70 local people. We are active in the community and the local chamber of commerce. We deal with several dozen local vendors on a day to day basis and many more during a month. All depend on our business for part of their livelihood. We are financially strong with great respect in the market place and community. We have strong local presence and stability.
I work every day the store is open, nine to ten hours a day. I know most of our customers and all our employees. Sunshine Dodge is my life.
On Thursday, May 14, 2009 I was notified that my Dodge franchise, that we purchased, will be taken away from my family on June 9, 2009 without compensation and given to another dealer at no cost to them. My new vehicle inventory consists of 125 vehicles with a financed balance of 3 million dollars. This inventory becomes impossible to sell with no factory incentives beyond June 9, 2009. Without the Dodge franchise we can no longer sell a new Dodge as "new," nor will we be able to do any warranty service work. Additionally, my Dodge parts inventory, (approximately $300,000.) is virtually worthless without the ability to perform warranty service. There is no offer from Chrysler to buy back the vehicles or parts inventory.
Our facility was recently totally renovated at Chrysler's insistence, incurring a multi-million dollar debt in the form of a mortgage at Sun Trust Bank.
HOW IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CAN THIS HAPPEN?
THIS IS A PRIVATE BUSINESS NOT A GOVERNMENT ENTITY
This is beyond imagination! My business is being stolen from me through NO FAULT OF OUR OWN. We did NOTHING wrong.
This atrocity will most likely force my family into bankruptcy. This will also cause our 50+ employees to be unemployed. How will they provide for their families? This is a total economic disaster.
HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN IN A FREE MARKET ECONOMY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?
I beseech your help, and look forward to your reply. Thank you.
Sincerely,
George C. Joseph President & Owner Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu
Good point, but I think you mean entropy, the second law of thermodynamics, the transition from order to chaos or a lesser level of order.
Bankruptcy judges, long before the Telepromptee in Chief came along, could break contracts to which a bankrupt was a party. I’m not sure the Sunshine dealership is being given away as much as it’s being eliminated. Semantics perhaps since not all dealership are being eliminated, but this scenario was possible under US bankruptcy laws before the Age of Change.
“Sorry. The best thing he can do is to start looking for another manufacturer to supply him with new cars.”
Using “sorry” in your remark is rude and unnecessary. This man no longer has a facility to work with, nor the equity to start over.
I have no idea what you are commenting on or responding to.
I never said the guy wasn’t making any money.
I said I would like to see how he does on NEW car sales in comparison to other local dealerships.
Most dealerships make the bulk of their money from used car sales and from service.
Chains you can believe in.
I don’t think they are closing the successful ones and not at this pace. This is coming down from on high from his lordship.
I remember back before any auto companies got any bailout money. There was talk that some dealerships deals with the auto companies were "too good". It was said if GM-Ford-Dodge filed for bankruptcy they could redo those contracts with certain dealerships.
That's what bankrupcy is all about: to breach contracts.
I’ve wondered about the things he talks about. Since the dealers are franchised businesses, the corporate level has no business risk in running these businesses, do they? I know they want fewer dealers selling more cars per dealer, but this could hurt sales since they will have fewer retail outlets to sell their product.
I hope the dealers can have some recourse in court. it’s like the whole value of his business was because he was a franchisee of a major car manufacturer. Without that franchise, his business has far less value. And everything going on with the bailouts were beyond his control. The dealers who actually have to go out and sell these cars had no input there.
My post #63 wasn’t a joke. It’s an idea.
“HOW IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CAN THIS HAPPEN?”
That one is easy.
When you elect a Marxist, America ceases to exist.
How many people in the car industry voted for the jerk? They have nothing and no one to blame but themselves.
Hope and change...Zero style.
Actually, it looks like Joseph isn’t losing his entire product line:
http://www.sunshinedodgeisuzu.com/
So he’s suppose to cove millions of dollars worth of Chryslers renovation with used car sales. Not likely
And those ridiculous "coexist" one's count as pro-Opossum.
These closings were requested by the company and approved by the bankrupcy court.
Thanks! However, in this case, the dealer is not being forced to hand over anything. Chrysler is just turning its back even after enforcing expensive requirements without compensation.
Destruction solves nothing. How to salvage this man’s investment? It would be a grand nose-thumbing to help turn this dealer’s skewering into a competitive success.
Some conservative lawyer somewhere needs to find the balls to initiate a class-action.
This is beyond going Bowman - the government just stole this man's livlihood and property. The government just put 50 people out of work.
This is getting close to a Fort Sumter moment.
yes but under bankruptcy rules creditors have a right of redress if they are being treated differently than other members of the same class.
If it turns out that dealers who are the wrong skin color or made the wrong political contributions are being specifically targeted, then they can go to the bankrupcy juge.
Obama was trying to prevent that so he could imperially order the reorganization according to his left wing communist vision.
This is a standard bankrupcy restructuring.
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