By Tracy Will
For WisBusiness.com
Chrysler today revealed plans to close 789 dealerships, including 18 locations in Wisconsin.
“Government is forcing dealerships to close facilities,” said Chris Snyder, general counsel for the Wisconsin Auto and Truck Dealers Association adding dealers are victims of problems they did not create.
But the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement that the President’s Auto Task Force was “not involved in the specific design or implementation of Chrysler’s dealer consolidation plan. The Task Force played no role in deciding which dealers, or how many dealers, were part of Chrysler’s announcement today.”
The statement goes on to say that “the sacrifices by the dealer community — alongside those of auto workers, suppliers, creditors, and other Chrysler stakeholders — are necessary for this company and the industry to succeed.”
“We do not believe that this will save Chrysler save any money,” he said. The proposed closures include two Don Miller locations in Madison, one Russ Darrow location in Menomonee Falls and 15 other dealerships ranging from Eau Claire to Oconomowoc.
“There are dealers on this list who have been serving communities for decades,” Snyder said, adding communities will suffer because “we are going to lose some dealers, some members, communities are going to lose people who contribute to charities and quality of life in the communities where they live.”
Snyder said the planned closures also raise concerns for car owners.
“We are making that argument: you take away the service you promised the public when you pull out of a town,” Snyder said.
Salespeople at Don Miller Pontiac Chrysler in Madison are awaiting news from their owner, Don T. Miller, Jr. who is attending a meeting in Chicago related to the dealership franchise closing issue.
Bill Sepic, president of the Wisconsin Auto and Truck Dealers Association, is in Washington. D.C., and is expected to provide a comment on the closing announcement later today.
