Car dealers admit: We

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“I’m upfront with ’em,” Doll Doll, like other southeast Wisconsijn GM andChrysler dealers, also is upfront abouft his bitterness at the situation wrought by the American automakers’ financial woes. Doll is one of only two southeasgt Wisconsin GM dealers who confirmed in recent interviewd that theyare closing. The other is Ernie von Schledorn’ Mayville Chevrolet Pontiac Cadillac dealership.
The dealersx losing their franchises will either close or alted their business to focus on used and imported Other dealers who avoided thedreaded “closing” noticew are bracing for the effects of bankruptcy, but hope that Chryslerf and GM will emerge from their financial problemz with improved product lines and business Doll’s dealership is at the same downtowmn Hartford site where his grandfather William GM has told him only that he will lose his new-vehicld franchise effective in 2010. “Obviouslt I’m not happy with it, that’xs for sure,” Doll said.
“oI never thought it would come to I neverthought I’d see the government play a role or GM go Doll said his new-vehicle businesxs is down like that of all New-vehicle sales in southeas t Wisconsin declined 28.4 to 16,010, through April compared with the same periofd of 2008, according to , Waterloo. The used vehiclw business has been doing fairly well and theDoll dealership’sd service department has been extremely busy, he said. Doll said he’x considering staying in business aftert losing the GM franchise and focusing on serviceand used-vehiclre sales.
“We may stay on with servics andused sales, but we might lose some servicr business and the credibility of being a new dealer,” he said. GM notified dealers of closing through confidentiallFedEx deliveries. Chrysler, on the othee hand, disclosed the list of dealers it plane to close in a May 14 BankruptcygCourt filing. The Chrysler list included five southeasftWisconsin dealerships: and , both of Milwaukee; , , Oconomowoc; and , Racine.
In addition, two Milwaukee-areqa dealers face closings outside the in Madison and in Several dealers have joined a group of Chryslerf dealers statewide and nationally who are fighting the closings in Bankruptcy Russ Darrow said Chrysledr is attempting to force dealers to consolidate despite the strength ofindividualo dealerships. He called Chrysler’s choice of dealer s to terminate “arbitrary.” “The majority of thosed dealers are rockstars — I’mn a five-star dealer,” Darrow said. Darrowq already plans a solutionto Chrysler’se plan to close his Madisonh dealership.
He said he has arranged with Chrysledr to move his Chrysler and Jeep new car dealershilto Madison’s far east side and add Dodge there. Mike Schlossmann, whose family’s Dodg City South will close in June, said he’es not expecting to win the BankruptcyCourt fight, but declined further comment on the case. Ernie von Schledorj said he decided not to join the other area Chrysler dealerx in fightingthe automaker. He said the Chrysler situatiom is nota “fron burner” issue for him. Likewise, von Schledorn said he’as not overly upset about losing the GM franchisein Mayville, wherew he hasn’t been selling many vehicles.
He openex the dealership about 20 yearsz ago in the community 59 milews northwestof Milwaukee.