The head of GM's North American sales, Mark LaNeve, called the process of targeting dealerships for closing next year one that was very serious and took a lot of deliberation, telling reporters by phone on Friday the chief criteria were sales and profitability. LaNeve says, "They were well below average. Basically, dealerships that are, in most cases, hurting, losing money."
Of the 1,100 letters sent out to these supposedly "under-performing" dealerships, one arrived at Reichenbaugh Motors, a small family-run store half-way between Salem and Alliance.
Ed Reichenbaugh started working here when he was just 14 or 15, washing cars. He represents the third generation of his family to be here; a business that started in 1920's as a blacksmith shop. In the 40's, it was both the local Chevy dealer and a gas station.
Ed says he sells between 75 and 100 new vehicles a year, thinking his share of the car and truck market, as small as it might be, ought to mean something to GM. He says, "No matter how many cars you sell a year, it's more than you're gonna sell if you're not here."
For now, Ed's got no plans to close even after his contract with GM expires in October of next year. He says, "We're gonna be here without them."
GM executives say the reason for notifying dealers now instead of waiting until closer to their contract dates was to give them more time to wind-down their businesses, get rid of their inventory and allow workers to start looking for new jobs.
Throughout all his time with GM, Reichenbaugh, who by the way is also the local fire chief, says his dealership has never cost the auto maker a dime. In fact, Ed says he had to pay for everything, from the cars he sold, to the promotional items customers could look at, to the sign standing outside his store.
For now, he plans to sell-off the rest of his inventory and focus on his service garage to stay in business.
