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
Therein lies the problem - no one is telling the dealers the criteria. From what I’ve heard on the news, some of the dealers being closed are top dealers in their area and their business is being given to less productive dealers.
Considering The Messiah spent 20 years worshiping at the altar of a racist-to-the-very-marrow-of-his-bones “pastor”, and would still be “nobody” if he were afflicted, like many of us, with “Melanin Deficit Disorder” you seem awfully thin-skinned.
It’s a legitimate question.
SOUNDS LIKE A NEED FOR SOME JEWISH LIGHTNING!
Couldn't have been an order of magnitude more, as you sort of imply. There were not that many dealerships. IIRC, about 1/4 of the dealerships got the "Dear John" letter. But it's also likely that they would have been allowed to continue to operate under bankrupcy. Airline do it all the time. Thus they'd have at least been able to continue to supply however many cars were actually being sold by the dealerships. They could have changed the rules about how many vehicles were needed to be maintained in inventory, voided franchiese in a more orderly and rational manner, and voided the union contracts and the Big Bonuses for non performance of management, all at the same time.
In January pf this year, Isuzu announced
Isuzu Motors, which helped popularize SUVs in the 1980s, said Wednesday that it will exit the U.S. consumer market on Jan. 31, 2009.
The Japanese company blamed the move on General Motors ceasing production for Isuzu of the Ascender sport-utility vehicle and I-290 and I-370 pickups.
Dude shudda seen it coming.....
Your comments in this post are over the line, imo, especially the comment about her son.
White, Cuban, and/or Asian Republicans are not a protected minority.
And you care? They'll call us that no matter what.
Besides, DallasDeb is problably right so how is it racist to inquire?
His business is being stolen from him by the government for no cause. This is outrageous!
I don’t know that there is anything that can be done now; but in 2010, folks need to remember the kind of changes we are getting!!!
—I hope some of those employees that may have voted ignorantly will get a clue. Many in the general public thot they knew the issues or foolishly thot anything was better than Bush; now they know better.
I put a lot of the blame on the DNC for putting forth a candidate of this caliber and the MSM media for totally backing him and spiking stories that could have informed the electorate. Basically, anyone who watched anything but Fox, was misinformed. :(
What do you mean by that? Not paying what bills?
My comment is over the line?
Her question is born of, steeped in, and fueled by racism.
When we question first based on race and when we assume absent fact that race is a factor we are engaging in racism.
But OK fine - I’m the jerk - you people have won me over.
Trying to have a reasonably intelligent conversation here about basic economic and business principles is apparently useless, so I will trudge along with the tide and stop asking questions that have to do with actual business concerns and rail on and on about things we don’t know, can’t prove, but make us feel better because we get to blame someone.
Obama is a jerk (I agree with that one by the way)
Everything wrong with this country is his fault.
If it weren’t for Obama this guy in FL would still have a dealership (No evidence has been presented yet to show this is true, but people keep saying it so it must be right, consider me convinced.)
Assuming to the point of asking out loud if race is a factor in determining which dealerships are axed is not a racist thought, not a racist action, and has no basis whatsoever in racism, despite the fact that the reason for asking it is because you assume Obama had something to do with each individual decision and he’s black.
Oh, and I should HOPE that the kids of people who think this way get to call my alma-mater their own. The world needs more people who worry about race before performance, especially the Navy.
Happy now?
He's had the dealership for 35 years; on what do you base the conjecture that he would have lost that dealership absent this administration, headed by 0bama?
You, Sir, are a Professional Offendee.
No, it's not.
Seriously - it's not OK.
To get to the point of asking that question you have to somehow think the President of The united States through the list of dealerships deciding which to keep and which to kill and they HE is making those decisions personally with racism in mind - because, as we know, he's black.
You are using your perception of his racism an excuse for your own. NEITHER is acceptable.
His business is being taken from him with no compensation(he initially paid for the Dodge franchise)and being given at no cost to a dealer down the road.
A person owning a McDonalds franchise, can easily revamp to another kind of fast food and probably make more money, they don't have the kind of money invested in this business as the auto dealer has.
These dealers have their lives invested in these dealership. The auto makers demand/tell the dealers how many cars they MUST TAKE (it is not an option) each year. The dealers HAS to put these cars on a Floor Plan with their local banks and pay the interest each month.
This dealer states he has $300000.00 in part inventory, which they won't buy back. This dealer invested in himself, his employees, and his community all to be swooped away from him and GIVEN FREE to some one, how is that fair?
What difference did it make if the dealer only sells 35 cars a month????? It is 35 more that the auto makers profited by, right?
I remember the Oil companies did this often times in past years. They would start a gas war, until the little man was forced to give up his service station. Then the Oil companies would come in and build their and as it was the only station they UPed the price of gas, no competition.
See post 266 - had things gone as they ‘should have’ Chrysler would have failed outright - and the gentleman in FL have been relying on Isuzu months ago.
I don't think he's doing it personally; he's got minions to do that.
He's got more important things to do ... like filling out basketball tournament brackets.
I'm sorry, but I fail to see what part of your above comment is your attempt at "trying to have a reasonably intelligent conversation here about basic economic and business principles".
Bankruptcy doesn’t mean Chrysler would have stopped building cars anymore than bankruptcy meant United Airlines stopped flying airplanes.
You assume that Chrysler has no per-dealerships costs.
That is simply not true.
Production rates for cars and spares - infrastructure - networking - shipping - training and on and on - all can track some costs to corporate.
The fact that they may net some to corporate at each dealership does not mean that they could not net more with less dealerships.
If you cut costs by more than you cut gross you increase profit.
And as for revamping to another kind of fast food - he already sells Isuzus and used cars. He has portions of his business that are not dependent on Chrysler.
Hey - by the way - where are all the people who claim on other threads that they will never buy another Chrysler or GM product?
I mean - really - what does it matter to them if this guy goes under - in their perfect world he would fail outright because smart Americans wouldn’t buy that government trash anyway.
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