The car business literally ceased the day World Trade Center I and II fell back to the Earth. And so the savvy suits at GM created a landmark campaign “Keep America Rolling.” Generous Motors offered 0% interest for 60 months on EVERYTHING they made. Customers had to forfeit their rebates in exchange for 0% interest loans, but my god did it work. The sales rates were staggering.  I personally witnessed customers at a Texas Chevy house literally fighting to be next in line to sign papers. The rumor had gotten out that 0% was going to end suddenly; the customers in this particular store believed they were in a race to sign docs before the last 0% credit was used up. That was 2001. Today eight years later, zero percent is BACK on.

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The Detroit News reports that car dealers are trustworthy enough (or, more likely, influential enough) to be exempted from the House Financial Services Committee’s recently-passed version of the Consumer Financial Protection Act. The bill, intended to prevent another credit crisis through federal regulation, would have made dealers subject to Consumer Financial Protection Agency oversight had Rep John Campbell (R-CA) not introduced an amendment [PDF] exempting them. David Westcott, chairman of National Automobile Dealers Association’s government affairs committee applauded the move

It makes sense to exclude dealers. Dealers had absolutely nothing to do with the credit crisis. The overwhelming majority of committee members clearly understand that CFPA jurisdiction over dealers is unnecessary and that increased uncertainty in the auto marketplace would limit consumer finance options and increase car buyers’ costs

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Penske Automotive’s official explanation for pulling the cord on Saturn was that they couldn’t get a supply deal. Renault-Samsung figured the risks of supplying a reborn Saturn were high, while the reward was (at best) competition with established Nissan offerings.  But Roger Penske was putting his company out on a limb as well. Penske Automotive stock had been bid up in the days before the Saturn deal fell apart, as speculators sought to get in on the ground floor of the new company. As usual though, the speculative bid-up was based more in hype and long-term potential than underlying financial realities. Despite a losing over $3 in share price after the collapse of the Saturn deal, Penske’s forbearance is being rewarded. Standard and Poors had put Penske on a credit-rating downgrade watch on fears of the firm over-leveraging to take on Extreme Makeover Saturn Edition. With the deal called off, Penske stock might not have the speculative upside it once did, but it has already doubled this year. And backing away from a potentially messy revival of a troubled brand has PAG headed out of the credit-rating doghouse. And as the man himself has said, “my dad told me a long time ago, it’s not what’s good for you Roger, it’s what’s good for the company.” Meanwhile, Pete “Autoextremist” DeLorenzo figures the Saturn network would make a good upscale network for Hyundai’s Genesis and forthcoming Eqquus lines. A whole network for two vehicle lines? I wouldn’t be holding my breath. Luckily Saturn dealers have had a few years to get used to being unwanted.

AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson has issues with the industry practice of maintaining 50 to 60 days worth of supply of new vehicles. In today’s Automotive News [sub], Jackson advocates for a 30-day benchmark, blasting the manufacturers for their complacency.

What other business accepts the same benchmark for 50, 60 years and says, ‘That’s fine”? As soon as you put the parts together in a vehicle, nobody cares if it sits there for 90 days. And how you can get those ideas together in the same head is beyond me

Disagree? Take a look at the latest Automotive News [sub] inventory report before you weigh in. One example: as of September 1, Buick had a 25-day supply of LaCrosse and a 130-day supply of Lucerne. Cadillac and Lincoln also had no models with fewer than 72 days of supply. It seems this Jackson character is on to something…

Fritz Henderson just confirmed in a conference call that GM’s VP for US Sales Mark LaNeve will be leaving the company by October 15. An email by Henderson obtained by the Detroit News, makes it clear just how long LaNeve outstayed his welcome. There’s damning with faint praise and then there’s this:

Mark has contributed significantly to GM in several key positions, including transforming the Cadillac brand and leading the vehicle sales, service and marketing organization during one of the most challenging periods in GM’s history. Please join me in thanking Mark for his dedication and wishing him and his family well. A replacement for Mark will be named at a later date

It is the time of the season that used car prices fall off. I began following the wholesale used car market in 1996. I distinctly recall a dealer friend of mine, Jerry McKinney, explaining it to me this time of year “Son you better get your nuts in the nest, winter is a comin’.” Translation: a dealer needs to convert any questionable inventory on today’s market to cash. Then take a new position in fresh inventory after the flop hits.

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I have no idea why Mark LaNeve still works for General Motors. The former Cadillac man was serving Kool-Aid on the bridge when CEO Rick Wagoner was Richard Nixon channeling Captain Queeg. When Old GM sank into bankruptcy, LaNeve (and Bob Lutz and Fritz Henderson and the whole damn crew) should have gone down with the ship. Instead, they transferred to another boat and headed straight for the same iceberg. No surprise there: hitting icebergs is who they are and what they do. I’m not saying that LaNeve’s recent remarks about culling GM stores [via Automotive News] reveal that he’s wrong to trim the automaker’s bloated dealer network. I’m saying that LaNeve is going about it the wrong way. Here’s my thinking . . .

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An anonymous TTAC Tipster has made it possible for me to fulfill my promise to our Best and Brightest. Click here for a pdf list of all Chevrolet and Cadillac dealers slated for closure. Our secret number cruncher created the document by using the information recently provided by another, long-time TTAC source. Thank you both for helping this website realize its raison d’etre.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Roger Penske has pulled out of a deal with GM that would have kept the Saturn brand in business. Per the WSJ report:

The deal called for Penske to initially acquire vehicles from GM but eventually branch out to sell products from Renault SA (RNO.FR) and its Samsung Motors unit, which is based in South Korea. Penske Auto said Wednesday that it negotiated a supply agreement with “another manufacturer,” but that company’s board rejected the deal.

“Without that agreement, the company has determined that the risks and uncertainties related to the availability of future products prohibit the company from moving forward with this transaction,” said Penske Auto.

Reuters confirms the story, adding “GM said in a separate statement it would wind down the Saturn brand and its dealership network.”

Make no mistake: GM and Chrysler went into bankruptcy horrendously over-dealered. GM was carrying more than twice Toyota’s 1500 dealers (with a lot less than twice the market share). The automakers’ needed to cut their franchise network down to size for reasons elucidated here on numerous occasions. The fact that the culled dealers are dogging the federally-subsidized carmakers for cash—well, you, really—is neither here nor there. It’s on YouTube! In their own words . . .

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