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Three hundred and eight years later the birthplace of the modern automotive industry is to lose the last downtown auto dealership that sells cars bearing his name. Dalgleish Cadillac -- which has sold the luxury car brand in Motor City for General Motors Corp since 1954 -- was informed in early June that by September 2010 they must close as part of the automaker's restructuring plans. The dealership's owners say the stunning news came in a letter signed simply "General Motors Corporation."

Jim Press, Chrysler's charismatic deputy chief executive, went to Capitol Hill last week and spoke solemnly about the "very difficult decision" of terminating 789 of the automaker's dealers across the country. He assured members of a House committee that the company's executives had "taken every step to make this a soft landing for the dealers involved" and promised to help them as much as possible. *snip* "You have two choices," Press told the group, according to reports. "You can either help us or burn us all down." Many dealers would long remember the warning that followed to those who refused...

HOBART, Ind. – At the end of the 81-year marriage, the Isaksons said goodbye by turning off the lights. The partnership was over. The Chrysler sign went dark. It was an unceremonious finale to a four-generation bond between one family and one company, but it was not a surprise. Rob Isakson had known for weeks his dealership was on a Chrysler hit list — the cuts were part of the troubled automaker's survival strategy...

Lawmakers Chide Automakers Over Dealership Cuts GM Issues State-by-State Closings List By Dan Eggen and Kendra Marr Washington Post Staff Writers Saturday, June 13, 2009 Out of the 1,323 General Motors dealers targeted for elimination, the most will come from Pennsylvania. Ninety dealerships will be forced to wind down in the state. Pennsylvania is followed by Ohio with 79, Illinois with 66, California with 65 and New York with 60. GM, which has declined to name individual dealers, released the state-by-state list for the first time yesterday to a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. And lawmakers vented their frustration, demanding...

"My grandfather paid for Carlisle Chevrolet from his labors. My father paid my grandmother for Carlisle Chevrolet through his efforts. It took me nearly 20 years to pay my parents for Carlisle Chevrolet. It took GM and Chrysler a mere 24 hours to take Carlisle Chevrolet from me."

Many have claimed the federal government was playing fast and loose with the rules surrounding its takeover of General Motors and the circumstances surrounding the selection of which dealerships would remain open and those that wouldn't. Fox News' Gretchen Carlson came forward with evidence of this through a personal account of dealership closings.Carlson, a co-host on the Fox News Channel's morning show "Fox & Friends," appeared on Glenn Beck's June 9 program and questioned the logic behind the decision reached by the government and General Motors (GM) to close down a dealership that has been in her family for 90...

Many have claimed the federal government was playing fast and loose with the rules surrounding its takeover of General Motors and the circumstances surrounding the selection of which dealerships would remain open and those that wouldn't. Fox News' Gretchen Carlson came forward with evidence of this through a personal account of dealership closings. Carlson, a co-host on the Fox News Channel's morning show "Fox & Friends," appeared on Glenn Beck's June 9 program and questioned the logic behind the decision reached by the government and General Motors (GM) to close down a dealership that has been in her family for...

Peter J. Walsh, the owner of Walsh Dodge in Jersey City, N.J., started out selling used cars in his hometown 28 years ago after the birth of his daughter. He slowly built his business, and felt as if he'd finally made it when he earned his Chrysler shingle in 2000. But on Tuesday, Walsh Dodge will lose that shingle—as will 788 other dealers across the country. Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler has asked a bankruptcy court for permission to terminate the franchise agreements of about 25 percent of its dealers. Chrysler needs to cut costs, and claims current sales levels don't...

It is patently false to claim that Chrysler has not made public the criteria that it used to determine which dealerships it would close. In a May 14th Motion, Chrysler attorneys outlined the criteria that were factored into those decisions. The criteria were initially defined in Project Genesis, which was an analytical and statistical data model developed by Chrysler in 2008 to improve its viability going forward. The following is taken from pages 17 and 18 of that motion. The Debtors' Extensive Qualitative Assessment of Each Dealership 37. Project Genesis and the selection of dealerships to be included in the...

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer and Reps. Chris Van Hollen and Daniel Maffei have circulated this letter today ... ... to Obama expressing “growing concern” with the closures of GM and Chrysler dealerships across the country. The lawmakers say they’re asking for a “compelling justification as to how closing healthy dealerships will make the automakers more financially sound. The lawmakers are asking for lawmakers to sign this letter by 5p.m. today. Full letter below: Dear President Obama: We are writing to express our concerns about General Motors’ and Chrysler’s decision to close profitable automobile dealerships across the country, and...

Video - Rep. Ted Poe

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer and Reps. Chris Van Hollen and Daniel Maffei have circulated this letter today ... ... to Obama expressing “growing concern” with the closures of GM and Chrysler dealerships across the country. The lawmakers say they’re asking for a “compelling justification as to how closing healthy dealerships will make the automakers more financially sound. The lawmakers are asking for lawmakers to sign this letter by 5p.m. today. Full letter below: Dear President Obama: We are writing to express our concerns about General Motors’ and Chrysler’s decision to close profitable automobile dealerships across the country, and...

From Harry Reid to Obama: Closing these dealerships will put over 100,000 jobs at risk at a time when our country is shedding jobs at an alarming rate. We also question the criteria being used to determine which dealerships should be closed and the fundamental fairness involved in this effort. It is our view that the market rather than leaving it up to the manufacturers whose poor leadership contributed to their demise. . . .

Zero Hedge covers a court hearing involving terminated Chrysler dealers with some follow-up on its previous analysis of Dealergate and possible Clinton-tied cronyism in Arkansas. Tyler Durden points to one very interesting declaration from Ethel L. Cook, a Chrysler dealer based in Little Rock. Click on his post for the PDF link to the full testimony, but here’s an excerpt: Having reviewed the pattern of assumption and rejection of dealers throughout their region, I have detected a pattern: In every market where there is a dealership connected with former Penske Automotive executive Steve Landers, or his new automotive partnership with...

A parade of Chrysler dealers slated to lose their franchises took the stand Thursday in the automaker's bankruptcy protection case, one choking back tears, as they touted their sales and service records and questioned how they were chosen for termination. Just under 20 dealers were sworn in at the beginning of the day, but only about 14 testified, and no Chrysler officials took the stand. Arguments on the motion are scheduled for Tuesday.

Jack Fitzgerald, owner of nine Washington area dealerships -- seven of which are on the chopping block by General Motors and Chrysler -- left his headquarters on Rockville Pike mid-morning yesterday, armed with a black bag full of thick consumer reports, pie charts and line graphs on cars. In the past three weeks, he's been a virtual one-man PR machine, meeting with local and national politicians and blitzing the media in a desperate attempt to save his business.

At a hearing yesterday at the Senate Commerce Committee, a few of the beleaguered Chrysler and GM auto dealership owners got to voice their frustration with the Obama administration and their heavy-handed control over the auto industry.   One of the witnesses was John McEleney, Chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association.  “I have represented dealers in three meetings with the President’s Auto Task Force as well as in conference calls, and have provided at their request many documents and data,” McEleney said.  “At our meetings with the Task Force, we have repeatedly explained the fact that dealers are not...

"This is our last chance to get it right," General Motors Corp. President Fritz Henderson warned testy lawmakers. Countering GM and Chrysler LLC executives in a Senate hearing room, two dealers who are soon to have their franchises wrenched away appealed for help. "I am the face of GM and Chrysler in my town," said Peter Lopez, a Spencer, W.Va., dealer unlucky enough to be selling the brands of both fallen automakers. Russell Whatley, a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealer in Mineral Wells, Texas, said his grandfather opened the business in 1919. "A 90-year investment is just gone," he said. He called Chrysler's...

Neal Cavuto is reporting that 79.6% of the Chrysler dealerships that were closed were GOP donors. 20.4% donated to the Democrat Party.

Published on 5/28/2009 in the Riverside Press The above ad appeared in several national newspapers this week including the The Wilmington News Journal on page A18, Thursday, May 28, 2009, and The Riverside Press. The ad is in support of the Chrysler National Dealer Council. Exit82 reported: The ad is a full page and reads like a BS account of why the elimination of dealers was necessary, good for Chrysler, so sorry it had to happen to some of our friends, blah, blah, blah. I believe this ad was part of a nationwide ad buy in many papers because it...