Chevrolet Sale
Hart Pontiac GMC Buick and Fernelius Chevrolet escape GM cuts
With General Motors closing approximately 1,100 dealerships nationwide, it appears that announcement will have little to no effect on Ogemaw County dealerships.
Last week the Herald reported that Team Hodges had escaped the GM chopping block and would remain open. Hart Pontiac GMC Buick and Fernelius Chevrolet will also continue operations.
We made the cut, said Tim Hart. The uncertainty is gone, and now were heading into the summer selling season.
Hart said that while GM has not formally announced which dealers were cut, his dealership would remain open.
We do know that there were dealers cut in our area, Hart said. Basically our area of responsibility for our product lines just got bigger.
The same goes for Fernelius Chevrolet in Rose City, according to Owner Dennis Fernelius.
Were fine, he said. We passed all the critera.
Fernelius said that while there was some uncertainty about what news GM would bring when it announced which dealerships it would close, he was confident his dealership would survive.
Obviously it was a concern for us, as it was for all the dealers, Fernelius said. But going by the criteria we were confident we would be here. Were here to stay and here to serve our customers.
In addition to the news that GM would be closing some dealerships, the company recently announced that it would be eliminating the Pontiac brand after the 2010 model year a brand sold at Hart. The Herald reported on the GM decision in a recent issue, but more information has since come to dealers.
Pontiac will continue to be a brand at least through the end of the 2010 model year, Hart said. After that, it could possibly continue. It will be based on market.
Hart said GM has discussed possibly making Pontiac a niche brand, only offering one or two niche models, such as a Trans Am, however nothing has been decided at this time. He said GM has also informed him that, in an effort to fill the holes left by the discontinuation of the Pontiac brand, more Buick and GMC models will be added.
GM says we will have the same number of models as we have right now when we go from three brands to two, Hart said.
He said customers have been very concerned about the dealership since GM announced it would make cuts.
They were more concerned for our welfare, Hart said. We have had a lot of people that asked us (if we were closing) because they like us.
