Chrysler LLC wants to close 18 Wisconsin dealerships as part of a nationwide move to eliminate 789 dealerships.
Five of the targeted dealerships being sent contract termination letters are in the Milwaukee area and three are in Madison. The rest are spread throughout the state.
The letters say the dealerships must stop selling cars by June 9. However, Chryslers will still be sold and serviced in Madison.
Two of Don Miller's three Madison-area Chrysler facilities are slated to close. They are Chrysler Jeep on Wayne Terrace and Dodge East on East Washington Avenue, WISC-TV reported. The third Madison dealership is Russ Darrow's.
The dealers can appeal the decision announced by Chrysler in a bankruptcy filing Monday in New York. The company said sales are too slow to justify keeping all the dealers open.
But at least two of the dealerships might be able to keep operating by making some changes.
The owner of Don Miller in Madison said Chrysler's regional office has told him his two Madison dealerships can merge with Russ Darrow's Chrysler-Jeep dealership on the West Side.
David Miller said Chrysler will consolidate what are four existing stores into two, with one on the East Side and one on the West Side. Each will sell Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles under one roof.
Miller said that the move will cause some job cuts in Madison but that he doesn't know how many.
Miller said he currently has 75 to 100 employees at three locations.
As for inventory, Miller said it'll be absorbed between the new dealerships.
But other state dealerships won't be so lucky, according to the Wisconsin Automobile & Truck Dealers Association.
Legal counsel Chris Snyder said bankruptcy laws override state franchise protections, so Chrysler doesn't have to buy back new cars or anything else, not even the Chrysler signs.
"It's a dark day for these businesses, the individual businesses, because they're a viable business," Snyder said. "They're making their payroll. They're doing everything that they need to stay in business. And they're getting the rug pulled out from underneath them by the manufacturer."
Snyder said the Wisconsin Automobile & Truck Dealers Association plans to meet with all the dealers on the list to discuss their options.
The trade group estimated a dealership has about 30 workers, so job losses could total more than 400 in Wisconsin alone.
But some, like WISC-TV auto expert Matt Joseph, said Chrysler isn't even making vehicles right now and the cuts are overdue.
Joseph predicted that even more of the 3,200 dealerships nationwide will be slashed.
As for warranty work, the trade group said the government has pledged to honor all warranties, but consumers might have to drive farther to find a dealer to do the work, depending on where they live.
Along with the Milwaukee and Madison dealers, others affected in Wisconsin are in Eau Claire, Menomonee Falls, Lomira, St. Croix Falls, Frederic, Oshkosh, New London, Ellsworth, St. Nazianz, Kaukauna and Plymouth.
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