Gvmnt Steals Man's Car Dealership

[barman]

Here's the latest coverage of Mr Joseph's plight, along with mention of how other auto dealerships in the area are responding to the Chrysler bankruptcy - from Florida Today, the major newspaper in the Space Coast (Melbourne et al) region.

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20090520/BUSINESS/905200319/1003

 

[tiznow]

the auto industry is just a huge tangled mess that has built up over the course of many years that would inevitably lead to this at some point

the untangling which has to happen quickly ain't gonna be pretty and there's gonna be alot of getting screwed going around its just a question of how much

in this case its sounding like the dealerships on the top of the list of the getting screwed while the unions are on the bottom

 

[tiznow]

boy now I am screwed......I agree with something that Zit posted :lol:

Seriously, when I heard these news and not being American I didnt quite understand WHY would they care how many dealers they had until I heard their explanation/excuse of "too many dealers>>>prices too low"

Well..........if they want THEIR prices to go up...thats all fine and dandy.........BUT won't they be at an even BIGGER disadvantage on competition with toyota/nissan/isuzu/mitsubishi etc???

Can someone explain to me WHY is this move suposed to work?

its not like the japanese are making any money right not there prices will go up to

overall the industry is way oversupplied as demand was artificially high for quite some time due to lax credit standards and a humongous housing bubble

in the end there is no happy ending to any of this...

its a complete mess that was allowed to build up over a very long time

 

[TomGshotput]

The article doesn't say who took it away, simply that it was taken away. What is the story about the government taking it?

Snopes has nothing, I may ask them to check it out

 

[kingbill]

The article doesn't say who took it away, simply that it was taken away. What is the story about the government taking it?

Snopes has nothing, I may ask them to check it out

Title was either added by Zit or the rightwing blog he reposted it from

 

[barman]

The article doesn't say who took it away, simply that it was taken away. What is the story about the government taking it?

Snopes has nothing, I may ask them to check it out

The Florida Today coverage makes it clear the story is real, as is the letter the cat wrote and mailed to various legislators and also posted to several web forums (which then redistributed of course).

However, I take mild issue with his assertion that "the government took my business", when in fact, it appears that he's simply the victim of the Chrysler bankruptcy reorg plan.

Since it seems he's had a longtime relationship with Chrysler, he might be better served to accept responsibility for his having stuck with them over the past 12-18 months even as mounting evidence of their pending collapse accrued.

And as WOLFIE notes in earlier post, if Chrysler has voided their existing contracts, that dissolution surely frees him to begin doing business with another manufacturer(s). Thus his business has not been "taken". Rather, it's been forcibly altered.

How he chooses to respond to those forced changes - initiated by the Chrysler bankruptcy - will tell us a lot about how good a businessman he really is in the coming months.

 

[barman]

Mr Joseph's angst is not unreasonable, but it clearly leads him to make somewhat hysterical statements, like "It is impossible to sell m current inventory".

In fact, he can certainly sell all of his current inventory, though he may well take an unanticipated loss on each unit.


Bankruptcies of bigger companies always create a sad impact on the lives of those most closely aligned with the end sales areas.

 

[mplastered]

The Florida Today coverage makes it clear the story is real, as is the letter the cat wrote and mailed to various legislators and also posted to several web forums (which then redistributed of course).

However, I take mild issue with his assertion that "the government took my business", when in fact, it appears that he's simply the victim of the Chrysler bankruptcy reorg plan.

Since it seems he's had a longtime relationship with Chrysler, he might be better served to accept responsibility for his having stuck with them over the past 12-18 months even as mounting evidence of their pending collapse accrued.

And as WOLFIE notes in earlier post, if Chrysler has voided their existing contracts, that dissolution surely frees him to begin doing business with another manufacturer(s). Thus his business has not been "taken". Rather, it's been forcibly altered.

How he chooses to respond to those forced changes - initiated by the Chrysler bankruptcy - will tell us a lot about how good a businessman he really is in the coming months.

Sound just like a commie Mr Obarma. Well, actually like a commie lawyer. He should have known better, it was his fault.

 

[barman]

MPL, I've found it useful more often than not during the past 15 years to accept personal responsibility for the pickles in which I occasionally find myself.

One of them thar Commie attitudes I guess.

It's emotionally tempting to try and pass the buck to someone else and claim my problems are all their fault, but somehow it's just never really honest to put it that way.

 

[TomGshotput]

barman,
Is this analogous to a business partnership where one partner suffers because of the others incompetence?

Or perhaps not even an analogy and that is exactly what happened?

We cannot blame the victim. Nor should anyone scream about things being un-American simply because they failed to take steps to protect themselves for when things turn south

 

[barman]

barman,
Is this analogous to a business partnership where one partner suffers because of the others incompetence?

Or perhaps not even an analogy and that is exactly what happened?

We cannot blame the victim. Nor should anyone scream about things being un-American simply because they failed to take steps to protect themselves for when things turn south

Slotting Mr Joseph as a "victim" implies he had no say as to who and how he would do business with this particular partner.

The analogous partner in this case has indeed demonstrated incompetence, but it was hardly a sudden reversal from previous +/- of this partner.

Joseph had been doing business with this partner for years and he certainly bears some responsibility for whatever series of decisions he himself made during the past couple years that further perpetuated the ongoing relationship with a partner whose competence was coming under increasing criticism. And it was hardly a secret that only came to light the day Mr Joseph received the news of the dissolution of their longstanding partnership.

 

[mplastered]

MPL, I've found it useful more often than not during the past 15 years to accept personal responsibility for the pickles in which I occasionally find myself.

One of them thar Commie attitudes I guess.

It's emotionally tempting to try and pass the buck to someone else and claim my problems are all their fault, but somehow it's just never really honest to put it that way.

OK......and you are a democrat???

 

[barman]

I vote Democratic far more often than Republican since 1992, yes.

And here in Florida I participate in Democratic party via financial donations and some volunteer work during election cycles.

 

[Fngorh]

We have been told for years now that GM is a pension plan that builds cars. Not a car co that builds cars. Chrysler is in the same boat. And the dealers are not the first to get fucked I think that was Mercedes.
One way to fix a problem is to place in charge the biggest problem. That was/is the UAW. They are now fucked. They will own 55% of nothing. Which is nothing.
I personaly think that Chrysler is being used as a sacrificail lamb ie blueprint for GM.
We shall see.

 

[Willie99]

Did none know what happens when a company gos into bankruptcy protection.

It is not a pretty picture. I have a sneaking suspicion that all the conservatives on here were happy because the unions get screwed and the stockholders were deadmeat anyway.

Yes dealers and suppliers also get the shaft. At this point you are just trying to save something.

can you tell me how closing an independent dealership saves the manufacturer money?

I don't have a problem revoking dealership licenses form one sale per month organizations, but closing larger dealerships makes no sense.

Of course, thinking the POTUS can manage every industry makes no sense, and that's what we have going on here.

 

[barman]

can you tell me how closing an independent dealership saves the manufacturer money?

YES! (waves hand wildly)

I presume that chopping existing contractual arrangements between manufacturer and dealer(s) allows them to then create new contracts with terms that are far more favorable to the manufacturer. Impacted would be most everything in such a relationship - percentages, costs, minimums, maximums, warranty responsibilities and related time periods etc

They likely are legally constrained from rewriting their existing deals so it's better (in the overall big picture) for them to declare bankruptcy, trash the existing deals without fear and then "reopen" their doors under a legal reorganization. And part of that legal reorganization is that new dealers (even if it's the same owners or different owners in same town etc) must accept a whole different set of business parameters.

 

[barman]

Shitty deal for the existing dealers who are getting shut down.

But the alternative seems most likely to be a real shitty deal for the manufacturer. And the former cannot exist without the latter being healthy.

 

[Willie99]

YES! (waves hand wildly)

I presume that chopping existing contractual arrangements between manufacturer and dealer(s) allows them to then create new contracts with terms that are far more favorable to the manufacturer. Impacted would be most everything in such a relationship - percentages, costs, minimums, maximums, warranty responsibilities and related time periods etc

They likely are legally constrained from rewriting their existing deals so it's better (in the overall big picture) for them to declare bankruptcy, trash the existing deals without fear and then "reopen" their doors under a legal reorganization. And part of that legal reorganization is that new dealers (even if it's the same owners or different owners in same town etc) must accept a whole different set of business parameters.

that argument would make more sense if the closed more large dealerships. They have "chosen" to close very few larger dealerships. I too would wonder why the picked me.

 

[barman]

Well it's not unlikely that each dealership had varying contractural terms. And perhaps the ones designated for shutdown were the ones where the manufacturer was most likely to benefit by a reorg and reopen.

Actually I'd be surprised if it were anything but that reasoning, which I realize is no solace to those on the shutdown list.