It appears to be true:
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20090520/BUSINESS/905200319/1003/rss03I appreciate them fighting to keep their business and for the livelihood of all their employees. I'd do the same thing. There's no question there is going to be pain for a lot of people with all the dealerships that will be closed. The sense of betrayal has to be overwhelming. You gotta feel bad for all those employees who will soon be out of work.
I do have to wonder if all the allegations in the letter are true - that Chrysler is taking everything away with no compensation. Without publication of the franchise termination letter, there's no way for the reader to assess the true facts.
The problem with too many dealers is that, with increased competition in the American marketplace, the dealerships end up competing with each other to sell Joe Mopar his new Charger or RAM truck. Competition is good, but competition with yourself is bad - each dealer has to trim margins thinner and thinner to make a sale or find another way to lure the customer into your store. So, you end up with manufacturers and dealers having to offer incentives to move product off the lot, which long-term is not a profitably viable solution, especially with all the other financial issues the manufacturers face. Better to have fewer dealers in a given area to serve the population of Joe Mopars and Jill Chevy's out there. You could have a lot of dealers in the 60's and 70's when the US auto industry owned 90% of the market. Trying to keep all those dealers in business with less than 60% of the market doesn't work.
