GM, Ford, Chrysler Lost About 988 Auto Dealers During 2008
Alex Ortolani
The automakers, meeting with dealers at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in New Orleans this weekend, said the lowest sales rate of light trucks and cars in the U.S. last year since 1992 meant some dealers couldn't make it.
``Everybody is struggling right now in the U.S. economy,'' Ford's Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally told reporters at the convention last night.
Ford saw around 300 dealers shutter their doors last year, leaving the automaker with about 3,700, Ken Czubay, the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker's vice president of sales and marketing told reporters yesterday. Detroit-based GM had about 401 close or consolidate to have about 6,375 dealers today, spokeswoman Elaine Redd said in an interview today.
Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler had 287 U.S. dealers close last year and had a total of about 3,300 dealers at year-end, spokesman Richard Deneau said today.
National Automobile Dealers Association Chairwoman Annette Sykora said around 900 dealerships went out of business last year at a speech yesterday at the conference, giving a lower estimate than the U.S.-based automakers combined.
About 2,500 U.S. auto dealers may close in 2009, or more than 10 percent of the nation's car and light-truck retailers, consulting firm Grant Thornton LLP wrote in a report Jan. 21.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Ortolani in New Orleans, at aortolani1@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: January 25, 2009 11:23 EST