LONGMONT, Colo.—One Colorado car dealership on GM’s closure list wants customers to help it fight to keep its franchise.
Hajek (HIGH’-yek) Chevrolet in Longmont was one of about 1,100 General Motors dealers receiving letters Friday that said the company would be dropping them by late next year.
But the dealership plans to appeal the decision and is asking customers to help. The dealership about 35 miles north of Denver is setting up a blog on its Web site where customers can write to General Motors Corp. asking to let the dealer keep the franchise.
Manager Bobby Hajek said Monday the staff of 35 is upbeat and confident the appeals will work. He said 11 GM dealers in Colorado got notices Friday that the company wants to terminate their franchises.
“The community supports us and wants us to stay open. We’re just trying to find a way to give it back to GM,” said Hajek, whose father, Bob Hajek, owns the dealership.
Hajek said the blog, which would be set up in coming days, would be ironically titled: “GM’s Infinite Wisdom.”
“We’re in a small town, but we do really good. You go to Denver, you have 10 dealers within 20 miles of each other. You could walk to ’em. We’re in a smaller town, but you know what? We’re staying busy,” Hajek said.
Hajek said the dealership sold “seven or eight” cars over the weekend, after customers heard the dealership would lose its franchise.
General Motors plans to drop 20 percent of its dealers, in part due to an oversized network. Analysts say the company has too many dealers, creating stiff internal competition and giving shoppers too much leverage to talk down prices.
GM has declined to name dealerships on the termination list, but some owners are talking about getting notices last week. Dealerships that got letters can appeal the decision in a 30-day company process.
Bobby Hajek said that his dealership is rallying support through e-mails and blog posts in an attempt to change GM’s mind.
“We’ve already got all our ammo together,” Hajek said.
In Colorado Springs, Daniels Chevyland also received a letter Friday from General Motors, saying the manufacturer would not renew its franchise contract when it expires in October 2010.
Daniels Chevyland is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year.
“We were totally shocked,” fourth-generation owner Elizabeth Daniels said Monday. “We never received any notice that something is wrong with our dealership. Everybody was like a deer in the headlights.”
Daniels said she plans to file an appeal to try to save her franchise sales and service agreement.
“We’re a people store, a family store, and this is a real shame,” she said. “We’ve had our tough times and revamped our business model and were on the road to rocking.”
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