Chrysler Gets Down With The Dealers

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: March 29th, 2010

Chrysler’s awkward, year-long fandango with unwanted dealers is poignantly encapsulated in a strange little anecdote hidden in the back of today’s Automotive News [sub]. Headlined, “Rejected-store worker’s chat with Sergio was just smoke,” the piece told of a chance encounter several weeks ago between Fiat/Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne and culled dealer Jim Casper, while enjoying a smoke at a seafood restaurant bar.

“Are you a rejected dealer?” Marchionne asked [after Casper introduced himself].

“I work for a rejected dealer,” Casper replied.

“Do you know why you were rejected?” the CEO asked.

“To be honest, sir, we have absolutely no idea,” Casper said.

Now why would Sergio guess that Casper was with a “rejected dealer,” a term used by dealers protesting Chrysler on Youtube? It could have been awkward if Casper were just a good soldier looking for a pat on the back from his CEO. Actually, on second though, it couldn’t have been any more awkward than what (apparently) actually happened.

Casper asked Marchionne if he had received the two letters his father-in-law, the culled dealership’s owner, had sent. As AN [sub]tells it:

One letter asked Chrysler to consider restoring the store’s franchises if the company were to open new points in the area. A second letter asked the automaker to refrain from appointing a new dealer in Mealey’s territory until Mealey’s arbitration was complete.

“Jim, I don’t recall,” Marchionne said. “But I open everything that’s addressed to me.”

Casper followed up the next day with an e-mail thanking Marchionne and attaching the two letters in case the CEO couldn’t find them. The e-mail also invited Marchionne to call him.

Casper never heard from Marchionne, just as his family never got a response to the two earlier letters.

But Casper’s lawyer got a message from a Chrysler lawyer.

“Chrysler Group believes that communications about the case ought to be between counsel,” the March 19 e-mail said, according to a copy provided by Casper. “Please ask your clients not to send such communications to Mr. Marchionne or any other Chrysler personnel. Chrysler Group is not in a position at this time to make the call [to Marchionne] that your clients suggest.”

Burn! That’s what they call “getting Darvished” in Auburn Hills. But this isn’t just a sad story about an awkward encounter. Thanks to Automotive News [sub]’s decision to splash the headline “Chrysler shifts tone on dealers” across its front page, there’s ironic counterpoint as well. Though Chrysler has offered to reinstate 50 dealers and is talking to more (Casper’s 2,000-unit-per-year shop not included), other dealers and their lawyers are saying things likeChrysler continues to resist and contest each and every step in arbitration

The recent discovery fights, confidentiality disagreements, and other joys of litigation may be new, but the tone sounds mighty familiar. And with sales stagnant and an incentive battle underway, Chrysler needs dealers on its side. Maybe the next time a dealer intrudes on his hard-earned bar time, Sergio will at least offer to buy the guy a drink.

#Chrysler #DealerCull #DealerNews

Edward Niedermeyer

More by Edward Niedermeyer

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5 of 12 comments

Lumbergh21 on Mar 29, 2010

2,000 sales per year (~6 per day)? Wouldn't that make Mr. Casper's dealership a superior performer by Chrysler's standards (or GM's for that matter).

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Stationwagon on Mar 29, 2010

if you are a dealer and you get culled, deal with it. life in the american corporate world is vastly unfair. Many people are losing their jobs, and car dealerships should be treated no differently than regular workers who have been laid off.

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- Ihatetrees on Mar 29, 2010
  
  Under various state laws, the ass-clown auto dealership lobby has protections that other retailers could only dream about. A proper bankruptcy may have spurred a completely revolutionary retail model for cars - using the net to separate retail, warranty and repair functions. Now the whole process looks to be retarded for a decade or more. At the federal level, watch for the new financial reform legislation (that may blanket everyone from payday lenders to pawn shops), to specifically exclude the slime balls of car retailing.
  
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- Ben on Mar 30, 2010
  
  Spot on. So much time and energy is wasted in fighting decisions that people perceive as unfair. Move on, look for new opportunities, and learn from the experience.
  
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- Ronnie Schreiber on Mar 30, 2010
  life in the american corporate world is vastly unfair. You think life in a country run by left wing nanny staters is any less unfair? It seems to me that SEIU, the NEA, AFSCME and other public employee labor unions seem to be doing okay by Obama compared to the rest of us. What's unfair is the way public employees have gotten fat at our expense. What's unfair is the way that public employees get paid (few actually earn their wages and none create any wealth) about double what people make in the private sector. The private sector has lost millions of jobs while the public sector has grown. And when was the last time you were treated with respect by one of your public employees?
  
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