The general manager of Columbus’ new and only Chrysler dealership is glad to add the last line of the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram family to the business.
The owner of Columbus’ former Chrysler dealership said he is doing well without the line but is still charging the automaker rent for the sign on his property.
Clyde Rhea, general manager of Carl Hogan Automotive on Highway 45 North, said adding the Chrysler line was a natural fit.
“We’ve been working on this for about the past three months,” he said.
Chrysler approached the dealership at summer’s end to offer the line of cars that includes the Town and Country minivan and Chrysler 200 and 300 Touring cars, he said Tuesday.
The company’s national initiative is to get all Chrysler-related brands under one roof, said Matt Williams, dealer placement manager for Chrysler’s Southwest Business Center in Memphis, Tenn.
The Southwest Business Center comprises 317 dealers in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma and west Tennessee, he said.
“We wanted to re-establish Chrysler there,” Williams said of Columbus. The dealership met or agreed to meet the company’s standards on facility size and capacity, design, working capital and signage.
The dealership was happy to oblige because the Chrysler minivan is the nation’s most popular, Rhea said. With the Touring cars, Chrysler offers three of the most popular models in the market.
He expects the relationship to last despite the automaker’s difficult financial past.
“They’ve turned things around,” Rhea said, noting Chrysler posted the highest increase in sales between 2010 and 2011 of any domestic automaker.
The dealership saw sales increase 50 percent in 2011 over 2010 with Dodge, Jeep and Ram lines, he said, and he looks for those numbers to rise with Chryslers on the lot.
Carl Hogan Automotive has operated dealerships in Columbus since 1997. The group offers Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Honda and Toyota dealerships, too.
Former dealer thriving
Tim Younger, owner of Columbus Motor Co. on Main Street, had the city’s Chrysler dealership for 47 years. He lost it in October 2009 to Chrysler’s restructuring plan.
Younger’s dealership reduction was part of the company’s plan to comply with requirements for a $4 billion bailout from the federal government. And Chrysler joined with European carmaker Fiat to assure long-term viability.
Columbus Motor Co. was one of 789 Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealers affected by the restructuring.
“I don’t know what happened,” he said Monday. “I got an email that I wasn’t a dealer no more. … I’d like to know, but it doesn’t bother me.”
The dealership was making money and in the black every month, Younger said.
Williams was not working in Chrysler management at the time and doesn’t know why Younger’s dealership was removed.
Meanwhile, Younger sends Chrysler a monthly rent bill for $3,000 because it has not removed its sign from his property. The automaker has offered to take the actual sign, he said, but that would leave the frame and pole for him to deal with.
The city has an ordinance about abandoned signs, Younger said, which would leave him to pay the cost of removing the frame and pole. Chrysler’s tab so far is $92,000.
Columbus Motor Co. is flourishing, he said. While the lot doesn’t offer new cars, he has 300 units and a full-service shop. He, his wife, their two sons, grandson and 15 other employees run the business.
“The Lord has really blessed us,” Younger said. His bottom-line profits have increased fivefold now that he’s not writing monthly checks to Chrysler.
“The only thing that hurts me is the way I was treated,” he said. When he received the ominous email more than two years ago, he was given 27 days to sell his new inventory valued at $1.5 million. Cars he had already bought and were on the way from Birmingham, Ala., were never delivered.
Younger just bought a new Chrysler for his grandson and is happy with the family business.
“I would not take (the Chrysler line) back today if they offered it,” he said.
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