"It's no way to run a railroad, area auto dealers say - produce cars that consistently ride in the rear of Consumer Reports' annual rankings, and then blame the dealers when they don't sell.
"Some jerk in Detroit who has ruined his company is going to say I'm an underperforming dealer?" said Jack Fitzgerald, owner of 13 dealerships in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Florida. "I've done nothing but grow every year for 43 years."
Three of his Maryland dealerships will lose their Chrysler franchises by June 9.
Rick Shaub, owner of Montrose Dodge in Germantown, said Chrysler LLC has been behind the curve for years. He owns a single dealership and is losing his franchise.
"They don't make cars people want. As far as I'm concerned, they're five years behind everybody else in quality, styling and everything else," he said. "If people don't want it, it doesn't matter who sells it."
Peter Kitzmiller, president of the Maryland Automobile Dealers Association, said the story is similar at General Motors Corp.
"I don't know a GM dealer in the country that has performed all that well, and it certainly has nothing to do with the dealer," he said. "The difference is the product."
Mr. Fitzgerald said he has been pressing the automakers to improve their consumer ratings for 20 years, and has letters from former GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner and former DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche to prove it.
"We're putting a lot of effort into increasing the reliability and quality of our vehicles, which we're expecting will result in ... even more favorable ratings from Consumer Reports," Mr. Zetsche wrote in a 2001 letter to Mr. Fitzgerald.
In the magazine's April issue, which includes rankings of 2009 models, Chrysler was the lowest-rated automaker. GM was second lowest."
"Some jerk in Detroit who has ruined his company is going to say I'm an underperforming dealer?" said Jack Fitzgerald, owner of 13 dealerships in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Florida. "I've done nothing but grow every year for 43 years."
Three of his Maryland dealerships will lose their Chrysler franchises by June 9.
Rick Shaub, owner of Montrose Dodge in Germantown, said Chrysler LLC has been behind the curve for years. He owns a single dealership and is losing his franchise.
"They don't make cars people want. As far as I'm concerned, they're five years behind everybody else in quality, styling and everything else," he said. "If people don't want it, it doesn't matter who sells it."
Peter Kitzmiller, president of the Maryland Automobile Dealers Association, said the story is similar at General Motors Corp.
"I don't know a GM dealer in the country that has performed all that well, and it certainly has nothing to do with the dealer," he said. "The difference is the product."
Mr. Fitzgerald said he has been pressing the automakers to improve their consumer ratings for 20 years, and has letters from former GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner and former DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche to prove it.
"We're putting a lot of effort into increasing the reliability and quality of our vehicles, which we're expecting will result in ... even more favorable ratings from Consumer Reports," Mr. Zetsche wrote in a 2001 letter to Mr. Fitzgerald.
In the magazine's April issue, which includes rankings of 2009 models, Chrysler was the lowest-rated automaker. GM was second lowest."
More here from the Washington Times.
So now these dealers admit that what they were selling was crap.
ReplyDeleteAnd crap it's been for a long time. They just didn't listen when almost everybody said that they wanted a better product: better on gas mileage, better safety, low maintenance costs, good resale value. DUH!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, FIAT will save the Chrysler name.
ReplyDeleteWhen you check the facts about quality, GM scores very high. When you look at the perceived quality, GM scores low. It is all about perception. For many years, the Toyota Corolla scored very high, but the GEO Prism scored very low. The Toyota Matrix..high, Pontiac Vibe..low.
ReplyDeleteProblem is that they are the same vehicles made on the same assembly line, by the same workers.
People have pre conceived ideas about American cars that are just not true. Just look at the comments by people stating that American cars are junk. For every "junk" American car, I can show you 2 "junk" Japanese cars, and 10 "junk" Korean cars.
People driving foreign made cars simply refuse to admit when they have problems probably from a sense of guilt from turning their backs on American companies and workers.
what world do you live in 6:14? i couldn't stop laughing while reading your response full of facts and statistics.....it's almost like it came from your own case study! hah, hope you have a great warranty on your american vehicle? by the way, my toyota was built in kentucky. i support american workers, not the greedy UAW.
ReplyDeleteBTW,There is NO comparison between Korean and Japanese cars.Korean cars are a step above a Yugo.
ReplyDeleteI do notice that there are an awful lot of old beat-up Chevy trucks still on the road,so GM can't be all bad~
I've always had good luck with Cryslers. Those old slant six engines they used to make were easy to work on and were good for 2 - 300,000 miles.
ReplyDeleteI did have a Plymouth Reliant and that was a piece of crap. During that time GM was making the Topaz and Taurus, both were like the Reliant, crap.
Ford had it's Pinto LoL and a few lemons too. Always made good trucks though.
Most dealerships know their product pretty well. If the dealers know that the cars they are selling are sub-par, its likely they are.
ReplyDeleteI see a TON of old Hondas on the road to.
Anon 9:41
ReplyDeleteYep,the "K" cars like the Reliant and Aries were clunkers but I agree with you that Chrysler's history is not all bad.They DID pioneer the "minivan" market in America,and the Caravan spawned many imitators.