Chrysler Dealerships Closing by the Hundreds | See the List

A quarter of Chrysler dealerships closing

United States automaker Chrysler says it will close 789 of its U.S. dealerships, which adds up to about a quarter of its total dealerships.

According to the Washington Post, Chrysler has 3,181 dealerships in the U.S.

Who will be hit hard

Toledo.com, a news outlet in Toledo, Ohio, says that 47 dealerships in Ohio, mostly in the northeastern part of the state, will close.

The Chrysler dealerships closing include Jeep and Dodge. Many Jeep, Dodge and Dodge Truck dealerships across the country will be shut down.

Check out a PDF of the list of all the dealerships that will close.

Does Chrysler need debt relief?

The dealership shutdowns are the result of Chrysler rushing to pare down business and cuts costs. Chrysler has already filed for bankruptcy protection and gotten $4 billion in federal installment loans.

Chrysler received bankruptcy protection April 30. Chrysler has been conducting a project called “Project Genesis” to determine which dealerships are the “most desirable,” according to The Washington Post. That helped the automaker determine which Chrysler dealerships are closing.

Project Genesis

The Washington Post says:

Over the past eight years, Chrysler consolidated its dealer network within the limits of existing contracts and rules, an effort that cost the company $216 million, Chrysler said. In recent months, the automaker has worked with its would-be owners — a coalition lead by Italian automaker Fiat — to “refine” the evaluation of dealers, Chrysler said.

Though Chrysler recently entered a partnership with Fiat, the automaker is working on reducing its dealership network to a more appropriate size as it works through restructuring following its bankruptcy filing.

More trouble in auto land

General Motors is making significant changes to its franchise agreements. According to the Washington Post:

At the same time, General Motors is telling 1,100 dealers that it will not renew their franchise agreements when they run out next year.

Yesterday, dealers from across the country flew into Washington to lobby lawmakers against closing large chunks of GM and Chrysler’s dealer networks.

War on recession?

The head of a large auto dealers’ association thinks that shutting down the dealerships is not a wise move.

“What we’re finding is fundamental misunderstanding of the automobile business and how it operates,” said Gerard Murphy, president of the Washington Area New Automobile Dealers Association. “People are looking at the automobile business like a Starbucks model, where it makes sense to divest yourself of locations.”

Murphy said dealers are driving revenue to the automakers, not taking it away.

“This is tantamount to divesting yourself of troops when you have a siege at the gates,” he said. “How does that help?”

History of an American automaker

According to Wikipedia, Chrysler was:

first organized as Chrysler Corporation in 1925. From 1998 to 2007, Chrysler and its subsidiaries were part of the German based DaimlerChrysler AG (now Daimler AG). … Under DaimlerChrysler, the company was named “DaimlerChrysler Motors Company LLC”, with its U.S. operations generally referred to as the “Chrysler Group”. On May 14, 2007, DaimlerChrysler announced the sale of 80.1% of Chrysler Group to American private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., although Daimler continued to hold a 19.9% stake. This was when the company took on its current name. The deal was finalized on August 3, 2007.