25psi

Took this of another forum and honestly this is a huge problem. Never thought about it this way:



Just too many dealerships out there. There seems to be a Ford or GM dealer every 5 miles here, but only 3-4 Lexus dealers I can drive too within an hour.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...702030361/1148

Auto dealer glut hurts U.S. makes

About two-thirds of 15,000 dealers who sell Big Three vehicles need to close, says analyst and ex-GM adviser.

Sharon Terlep / The Detroit News

LAS VEGAS -- The number of auto dealers selling American cars is shrinking, but not nearly fast enough, a top industry analyst and former General Motors Corp. adviser said Friday.

About two-thirds of the more than 15,000 dealers who sell Detroit-made cars and trucks need to get out of the business in order to create a healthy dealer body that can compete with Toyota and Honda, said Stephen Girsky, speaking at an auto industry roundtable hosted by J.D. Power and Associates in conjunction with the National Automobile Dealers Association's annual convention.

The domestic dealer network is shrinking by about 3 to 4 percent a year. And while that's been painful for dealers, the market remains oversaturated. "Three to 4 percent a year just isn't cutting it," Girsky said, who was an adviser to GM CEO Rick Wagoner and Chief Financial Officer Fritz Henderson until he resigned last year.

Automakers prefer a smaller number of large and modern dealerships over many smaller, marginally profitable dealerships. Large, healthy dealers tend to invest in new showrooms with modern amenities and well-trained staffs, which leads to more sales and better customer satisfaction.

The glut of dealers selling American cars is a side-effect of the Big 3's huge loss of market share in the recent years.

The average Chevrolet dealer now sells 583 cars a year. Ford dealers sell 631 vehicles a year on average, while Dodge dealers sell 375 on average, according to J.D. Power and Associates Power Information Network. All three are sharply down from previous years.

By contrast, the average Toyota dealer sells 1,685 vehicles, while Honda dealers close 1,289 sales on average. Despite the imbalance, domestic dealers outnumber foreign-car shops more than 5 to 1.

"There's that idea of more is better," said Gary Dilts, J.D. Power senior vice president and former Chrysler Group sales executive, "which isn't working particularly well in the U.S. car business."

Detroit's automakers are pushing for more dealer consolidation. And while dealers largely agree consolidation is needed, few are willing to close.

Buying out dealers is a costly move for the carmakers, as GM found out when it killed its Oldsmobile brand in 2004.

GM isn't considering a major dealer buyout at the moment, instead looking to spend its cash on new vehicles, says Troy Clarke, head of GM North American.

Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler have been more actively consolidating dealerships. Some dealerships are going out of business due to reduced volumes.

"Every day there are dealers closing their doors and not being replaced by other dealers," said Michelle Van Vorst, executive director of the Ford Dealer Alliance, which represents 1,200 dealers.

25psi

Westside Chevrolet
Parkway Chevrolet
Bill Heard Chevrolet
Mike Hall Chevrolete
Champion Chevrolet
Allen Samuels
Davis Chevrolet
Chevy Of Houston
Ellison Chevrolet
Knapp Chevrolet
Lone Star Chevrolet
Strickland Chevrolet Inc
Landmark Chevrolet Corp
Champion Chevrolet Gulf Fwy
Monument Chevrolet
Munday Chevrolet
Parkway Chevrolet
Lawarence Marshall Chevrolet
Leo MArtin Chevrolet
La Roche Chevrolet
Ellison Chevrole
DeMontrond Chevrolet
Ron Craft Chevrolet
Don Davis Chevrolet
Jon Keating Chevrolet
Cliff Jones Chevrolet
Alliance Chevrolet
Norman Freid Chevrolet
Robbins Chevrolet
Parkway Chevy

Damn, this is all in a 40 mile radius. LOL I would hate to do Ford!

00ws6spd

Yea,okay,maybe everyone should buy toyota's!!They had more recalls on new models than vehicles sold last year!!Don't believe me?LOOK IT UP.
Import dealers are not doing our economy nearly as good as if you would buy american.Everyone says that no automaker uses 100% U.S. content,which is true,but for example,new GM's are more than 80% american parts.
Plus,GM now has a 5 year/100,000 mile FACTORY WARRANTY.
You want a 1 ton pickup?Call toyota and see what they have....NOTHING!THEY DON'T MAKE ONE!Plus,they couldn't beat the 650 lbs. torque/6 speed tap shift automatic allison-transmission equipped pickup's GM sells.
So come on,guys!BUY AMERICAN!OUR ECONOMY NEEDS US!
TOYOTA AND ALL IMPORTS!

1bdbrd

iTrader: (12)

go ahead and try to haul anything that weighs a considerable amount and watch how fast that duramax overheats.

and remember, without those imports you are flipping off, America wouldnt have thousands of the jobs it does now.

whats hurting domestic car sales besides the biased media are the unions. once those are gone and the salary of the autoworkers go back to where they should be (read: not 40+ an hour) car prices will start coming back down.

93camaro_zzz

iTrader: (13)

Ehh, its true, there are a crap load of them, but I guess if you think about it, if they are making enough money to stay in business, they are paying for utilities, advertising, labor, business costs, etc. So they are helping the economy IMO.

00ws6spd

Considering I sell cars FOR A LIVING and we use a DURAMAX for hauling vehicles from dealership to dealership,I think I should know how reliable the duramax is.Considering it hauls trucks the same size as it with no problems for over 500 miles at a time,I'd say it's a good truck.YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T OWN one.So quit talking out of your

Runn

That doesn´t prove anything, that just shows that they are taking care of their customers.

Did you know that Toyota sells so much cars in the US that they want to open more factorys there (more jobs for americans) but they are afraid to do so since there are alot of people thinking like you do. And more factorys might upset people with your kind of thinking even more.

Blakbird24

iTrader: (24)

I've watched Duramax 2500 and 3500's tow nearly double their capacity, in the worst environments imagineable and I have yet to see one fail in any way. Those engines are bulletproof when cared for the way they were intended to be. Hell, i'd be willing to bet it'd be hard to kill one INTENTIONALLY based on what i've seen.

1bdbrd

iTrader: (12)

both you and the other guy must not know anything about the class action lawsuit against GM right now because of the over ehating problems.

here ill make it simple for you. this is one of the clips used as evidence in the lawsuit.

http://videos.streetfire.net/search/...af013f4333.htm

Ru2n00n3er

iTrader: (13)

For those of you that think one of the problems is that the Unions have gotten really high hourly wages for employees, and that's one of the reasons they can't compete with foriegn automakers, read this. Toyota factory workers made more last year than UAW workers.
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/31/t...-first-time-l/

BanditTA

iTrader: (3)

^^Non union, its like working for the government or private.Gov't have benefits but you make less money.

Blakbird24

iTrader: (24)

And...?

That doesn't mean they all do it!

Geez.

1bdbrd

iTrader: (12)

no but its obvious that enough do it to warrant a class action lawsuit. my dad brought home paper work the other night for a class action suit against GM for damages caused by dexcool antifreeze. my truck hasnt had a problem with it and neither did my old trans am (even though it required the green stuff, i accidently changed it to dexcool) but thats not to say others dont have problems with it.

brad8266

iTrader: (23)

Its the Autoworker Union that is driving the Big Three into the ground. If they cant fix the union situation soon they are all done because they cant compete with other auto makes that dont have silly *** unions.

bruddah_man_matt

What a stupid and slanted example to provide. Yes because the majority of Silverados/Sierras sold are Heavy Duty Duramax models. Toyota's 2nd gen Tundra with its 381/401 5.7L V8 and 6 Speed Automatic **** all over the half ton Silverado with its outgunned 6.0L V8 and its underwhelming and ancient 4 speed automatic. I will give GM the nod on the interior as for once they've bested the competition in that department (at least from the shots I've seen so far) but seriously STFU. You don't have **** to talk about in the half ton department so the dumbass argument you make can be flipped right back on you. Why don't we compare the Tacoma to the piece of **** Colorado while we're at it?

All I can say is that GMs 6.2L L92 and 6L80 6 speed slushbox will be welcomed by all GM truck buyers come next year. But that's what GM gets for rushing their GMT900 vehicles to market before they had the capacity to produce enough 6.2L motors and 6 speed automatics for all of their brands. If the Tundra had been included in M/Ts truck of the year competition it would've eaten the Silverado for lunch and you know it. For once the Silverado's downfall is its powertrain. One can only hope that GM follows through and remedies this for 2008 by giving buyers what they promised they would give them in the first place (the 6.2L motor and two more ratios).

Next.

transamman400

iTrader: (1)

can i see a factual basis for this? for every duramax i see i must see about 6 gas trucks

brad8266

iTrader: (23)

How about helping our economy by getting rid of that worthless Auto worker union. And how about I just buy from the company that offers a better product? Im not buying a GM just because its American when I can get a better vehicle somewhere else. Did you forget that the Jap companies have tons of plants in the US and employ thousands of Americans?

Right now the American companies suck, they cant compete and are always like 2 years behind the rest of the industry. Thank the shitty, non-innovative workers of the Auto workers union.

25psi

You are correct. The new Tundra would have swept the floor against the Silverado. No comparison at all.

25psi

Agreed!

ls1 jeff

iTrader: (2)

Yes, because the union workers are the ones who designed the vehicles in the first place. Get a clue. How is it the union workers fault american auto makers have an inferior product, according to you?

I would never buy a jap truck...ever. The big three make the best trucks around, IMO. I cant count the amount of 1500's Ive seen with over 300k miles.

The new Tundra commercials crack me up too. They compare rotors and ring gears that aren't from any 1/4 ton american pickup.