Hudson Chrysler survives dealership cuts

Hudson Chrysler has escaped elimination, according to General Manager Tim Jubie.

The business wasn’t among the 789 dealerships nationwide that got letters from Chrysler Corp. a week ago telling them that they would no longer be selling new vehicles for the automaker.

Luther Hudson Chevrolet escaped the first round of dealership closures by General Motors, but isn’t totally out of the woods yet, according to Jubie, who manages both Luther Group dealerships.

Jubie said Luther Hudson Chevrolet isn’t one of 1,200 General Motors dealers notified so far that they will be losing their franchises. But the automaker has said it intends to eliminate 2,600 of its 6,200 dealerships by the end of 2010.

“The Luther Group’s position is that we will probably be fine. But obviously, that is up to GM, not us,” Jubie said. “My personal opinion is being across the bridge here (in Wisconsin) these two stores will be fine.”

He said both Hudson dealerships have already taken steps to cut costs, and 2009 sales are 50 percent above 2008 sales at both stores.

One of those cost-cutting moves was to make Jubie the general manager of both dealerships.

The dealerships consolidated three management positions in all. Steve Boyd is now the service manager for both dealerships and Kathy Hoffman serves both as controller.

The Luther Group has also committed to making additional changes to increase the dealerships’ viability, Jubie said in a phone conversation last week.

“We’ll serve our community if they serve us,” he said. “We’ve just got to work together to make sure these dealers stick.”

Consolidation possible

Jubie confirmed a persistent rumor that the Luther Group is thinking about combining the Hudson Chrysler and Luther Hudson Chevrolet dealerships at one Carmichael Road location.

“We have a desire to do that and we own the property. And we certainly have the capital to do that,” Jubie said.

What’s holding up the consolidation, he said, is that, “Nobody wants to make a large capital investment in a business until they know it’s going to stick.”

“When we are satisfied that we know that General Motors is going to keep the Chevrolet store in tact here in Hudson – which we believe they will – then, yes, there are some plans for doing a consolidation,” he said. “It will make us leaner. It will make us more competitive.”

Tags: tim jubie, business, hudson, chrysler, chevrolet