Detroit has a cruise in and the ugly urban line-of-blight billboards are loaded up with freebies to make the old guys and Detroit in general feel good about themselves.
These are very cool billboards.
Archive for the 'Cars' Category
Page 2 of 13
Penske Automotive owns a whole crap load of car dealerships. 310 in the U.S. and around the world. Penske Automotive sells over 40 different car brands - including the Smart car in the U.S.
Roger Penske is successful renting trucks and running racing teams. Can Penske Automotive sell Saturns? Yes.
Can he make a profit? Probably.
Will he still build Saturns in the U.S.? Doubtful.
He could form a venture with Nissan Motor Co., the Japanese affiliate of Renault SA, according to a source familiar with the talks. Automotive News, an industry trade publication, has reported that Penske plans to import vehicles made in South Korea by Renault Samsung Motors and sell them through the Saturn dealership network.
I wouldn’t bet on Penske Automotive in this deal.
Why?
- Because the $2,500 Tata Nano is coming to the U.S. in two years.
- Because he sells Smart.
- Because he sells 39 other car brands.
- Because Saturn never turned a profit in it’s whole existence under GM’s wing.
So GM invested billions to give Saturn independence. Saturn ran its own factory, employed its own engineers and made its own engines and transmissions. But the economies of scale never materialized. GM needed to sell half a million or more Saturns a year for this to all pencil out. In 1994, sales peaked at 286,000 cars.
- He just doubled the size of his network of dealers. Legacy dealers that used to sell Saturns and flopped.
Penske Automotive will have a two year deal with G.M. to buy Saturns. But then Roger can shop his car-building business around.
$2,500 Tata Nano
$20,000 Smart
$25,000 Saturn Vue
Tata doesn’t have a dealer network currently. But that probably won’t stop them. There is already a demand for the car in the U.S. (IF it passes gummit standards – and I’m betting the standards will be relaxed to make it so.)
We have had people ask us if the Smart was a Tata. We have had people tell us they can’t wait until the Tata comes to the U.S. These same people don’t have a clue that the Tata
- is put together with glue,
- has opening in the back (a “trunk),
- no air conditioning
- only three lug nuts per wheel (gummit standards dictate four)
- top speed of 43 mph
Many of these same people are concern that the Smart isn’t safe enough for them!
But that $2,500 price tag makes it very appealing to wedge in four teenagers and turn them loose or send Mama to church meetin’s.
Where will Roger Penske and Penske Automotive wedge the Saturns in the marketplace? If G.M. still designs and builds the cars, they won’t change much. If Penske Automotive takes the design/build to another factory he doesn’t own, does this mean Penske Automotive takes on a whole new level of overhead?
Am I willing to bail out Penske Automotive eventually?
I might if he let’s me drive one of his racers.
As my public service to all the people searching for the GM Dealer Closing list which was not on the Huffington Post blog that was titled GM Dealer Closing List. I hereby provide this update of GM Dealers that are closing.
This is not a complete list, since GM has not released the Official GM Dealer Closing List, preferring to let the dealers announce their closing.
DEALER NAME ADDRESS
CITY, STATE, ZIP GM BRANDS SOLD
Colonial Chevrolet-Buick Inc. 411 East Street North
Talladega, AL 35160 Chevrolet, Buick
Firebaugh Chevrolet 1200 N St
Firebaugh, CA 93622 Chevrolet
Tri Pontiac Buick 101 W. Florida Ave.
Hemet, CA 92543 Buick, Pontiac, GMC
Courtesy Chevrolet 17100 Laurel Road
Morgan Hill, CA 95036 Chevrolet
Mazzei’s GMC 3800 Century Ct
Pittsburgh, CA 94565 Pontiac, Cadillac, Buick, GMC
Hatfield Buick/GMC 301 E. Redlands Blvd.
Redlands, CA 92373 Buick, GMC
Daniels Chevyland 670 Automotive Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80906 Chevrolet
CO – Estimated 13-15 Colorado Dealers CO Unknown
Wile Motors 21 Route 66 E
Columbia, CT 06237 Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac
Asbury Automotive Group
Kissimmee, FL Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, GMC
Pat Fischer Chevrolet 1128 S Hopkins Ave
Titusville, FL 32780 Chevrolet
Moore Pontiac Buick GMC 2255 Marietta Hwy
Canton, GA 30114 Pontiac, Buick, GMC
Chuck Clancy Chevrolet 539 E Main St
Cartersville, GA 30121 Chevrolet
Frank Andrews Chevrolet 606 E Jackson St
Dublin, GA 31021 Chevrolet
Stokes Hodges GM 1214 Washington Road
Thomson, GA 30824 Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, GMC
Servco Auto Windward 45-655 Kamehameha Highway
Kaneohe, HI 96744 Chevrolet
Olesen Chevrolet 126 N Elm St
Avoca, IA 51521 Chevrolet
Larry Millier Pontiac Buick GMC 5803 Cleveland Blvd
Caldwell, ID 83607 Pontiac, Buick, GMC
R.L. Reising Sales Inc. 722 Dixie Hwy
Beecher, IL 60401 Chevrolet
Bruckerts Chevrolet 202 N Washington St
Bunker Hill, IL 62014 Chevrolet
Roseland Auto Sales 10954 S Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60628 Pontiac
Reichert Automotive Group, Crystal Lake 5220 NW Hwy
Crystal Lake, IL 60014 Chevrolet, Buick
Tom Sparks Buick 216 S 1st St
Dekalb, IL 60115 Buick
Reichert Automotive Group, Woodstock 2145 S Eastwood Dr
Woodstock, IL 60098 Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac
Gene Reed Motor Sales
Columbia City, IN Unknown
Bob Wysong Chevrolet-Pontiac 121 S Jefferson St
Cromwell, IN 46732 Chevrolet, Pontiac
Don Ayres Pontiac-GMC 4740 Lima Rd
Fort Wayne, IN 46808 Pontiac, GMC
Mendenhall-Roy Chevrolet 13350 W State Street
Grabill, IN 46741 Chevrolet
Preferred Chevrolet-Pontiac 709 S Detroit St
LaGrange, IN 46761 Chevrolet, Pontiac
Meyer GMC Trucks 3000 E 1425 N
North Manchester, IN 46962 Chevrolet, Pontiac
Charlie Roberts Chevrolet – Buick 103 E Washington Street
Rensselaer, IN 47978 Chevrolet
Hubler Chevrolet Center 1414 East State Road 44
Shelbyville, IN 46176 Chevrolet
Crown Automotive 3400 S. Iowa
Lawrence, KS 66046 Chevrolet
I have a long way to go before I can match 17 year old Julia Dales with her beatboxing unplugged.
If you have kids, you remember all the “sing along” noises they made in the backseat before iPods and everybody had to listen to the radio or CD player in the car?
Julia Dales is a throwback to those wonderful days of yesteryear.
I’m pretty good with making simultaneous noises from different orifices, but Julia Dales needs to be the World Beat Box Champion. Forever, retire the trophy.
This cute little girl is sitting in the backseat, probably in the school parking lot, and she just seems to riff this amazing beat box rhythm.
I want to be the 70 year old version of Julia Dales – at least when it comes to beatboxing. I’m starting practice this weekend.
The GM dealer closing list is remains a hot topic. Since GM has not released the dealer closing List, Huffington Post is trying to crowdsource the list.
Crowdsourcing is supposed to be the new wave of journalism, according to yahoos like Jeff Jarvis.
Here’s how it is supposed to work. GM has a list of dealer closings. They don’t release the list to the general public. No matter, a giant blog like Huffington Post just asks their millions of readers to submit what they know to Huffington Post and a list of GM dealer closings appears.
Except when it doesn’t.
This is exactly why local newspapers and the AP still have a role in gathering news. They are close to the market and can put a couple reporters on the phone and start calling around. Or they have sources inside GM, and the GM dealer closing list is leaked.
Oh, and BTW, the Huffington Post won’t just take your word that you are sending them facts. No siree Bobbie. They want you to link with a “confirmed source.” Which I’m guessing means, they want you to link to a newspaper or television station report.
We are only posting confirmed closures of GM dealerships, so please include a link to a news report in your email.
Here’s the list of GM Dealer Closing compiled through crowdsourcing so far…
- Tom Sparks Buick in Dekalb, Illinois.
- Reichert Automotive Group, which has locations in Crystal Lake and Woodstock, Illinois.
- Two dealerships owned by the Asbury Automotive Group in Kissimmee, Florida.
- Fox Pontiac Buick GMC in Alpine Township, Michigan.
- Chuck Clancy Chevrolet dealership in Cartersville, Georgia.
- Nourse Interstate Automall in Richburg, South Carolina.
- Matthews Chevy of Brilliant, Ohio; and Glen Dale Motors and Bell Chevrolet of Sistersville, West Virginia.
- Merle Snider Motors in Winfield, Kansas
- Adams Chevrolet in Belton, Missouri.
- Eisenhower Motor Sales in Pemberville, Ohio.
- Stokes Hodges GM in Thomson, Georgia.
- Fox Motors in Charlevoix, Michigan.
- Roseland Auto Sales in Chicago.
- Williams Auto Group, Sayre, Pennsylvania.
- AutoServ of Laconia, in Belmont, New Hampshire.
- At least 18 dealerships in Minnesota.
- Johnson Motor Company of South Carolina and Henna Chevrolet of Aiken, South Carolina.
- Mendenhall-Roy Chevrolet in Grabill, Indiana
- J.L. Freed and Sons of Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
- Jones Chevrolet in Corvallis, Oregon.
- La Roche Buick Pontiac GMC in Brenham, Texas.
- McCombs Superior Pontiac GMC in San Antonio, Texas.
- Hatfield Buick/GMC, Redlands, California.
- Dick Bigelow Chevrolet, Parma, Ohio.
- Moore Pontiac Buick GMC, Canton, Georgia.
- Don Ayres Pontiac-GMC, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
- Preferred Chevrolet-Pontiac, Lagrange, Indiana.
- Tom’s Chevrolet, Cornell, Wisconsin.
- Frank Andrews Chevrolet, Dublin, Georgia.
- Bob Wysong Chevrolet-Pontiac, Cromwell, Indiana
- Meyer GMC Trucks, North Manchester, Indiana
- Rea Buick, Port Jervis, New York
- Firebaugh Chevrolet, Firebaugh, California
- Wile Motors, Columbia, Connecticut
- Raceway Chevrolet Pontiac Buick GMC, Lake City, South Carolina
- Servco Auto Windward, Kaneohe, Hawaii
- R.L. Reising Sales Inc., Beecher, Illinois
- Bruckerts Chevrolet, Bunker Hill, Illinois
- Patire Chevrolet Buick, Hoosick Falls, New York
- Olesen Chevrolet, Avoca, Iowa
- Courtesy Chevrolet, Morgan Hill, California
- Mazzei’s GMC in Pittsburgh, California
- Colonial Chevrolet-Buick, Talladega, Alabama
- Ricky Smith GMC, Weymouth, Massachusetts
- Johnson Sales, Arlington, Wisconsin
- Boyd Chevrolet, South Hill Virginia
- Larry Millier Pontiac Buick GMC, Caldwell, Idaho
- Brackeen Motors in Shawnee, Oklahoma
- City Chevrolet, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Charlie Roberts Chevrolet – Buick, Rensselaer, Indiana
- Daniels Chevyland, Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Bill Cross of Performance Auto Group, Wooster, Ohio
- Moomaw Chevrolet, Sugarcreek, Ohio
- Crown Automotive, Lawrence, Kansas
- Epps Motors Middlesboro, Kentucky
- Spencer Auto Group, Spencer, West Virginia.
- Pat Fischer Chevrolet, Titusville, Florida
- Boyles Motors in Maryville, Missouri
- Olsen’s Implement, Huron, South Dakota.
- Salisbury Chevrolet, Glenville, New York
- Rose Buick Pontiac GMC, Gloversville, New York
- Videon Chevrolet in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
- Hubler Chevrolet Center, Shelbyville, Indiana
- Broadway Automotive, Pulaski, Wisconsin
- Lewis River Motor Co., Woodland, Washington
- Tri Pontiac Buick, Hemet, California
- Courtesy Chevrolet, Ontonagon, Michigan
- Alex Montgomery Chevrolet- Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep, Mount Washington, Kentucky
- Don’s Chevrolet, Ida Grove, Iowa
- Wells River Chevrolet, Wells River, Vermont
- Brighton Garage Chevrolet, Island Pond, Vermont
- Wagner Buick Pontiac GMC, Belleville, Illionis
- Krueger Auto & Truck Villa GMC, Waverly, Iowa
Out of an estimate 1,100 dealers on the GM dealer closing list, Huffington Post has only gotten 73 names. An Epic Fail in crowdsourcing.
But you won’t read Jeff Jarvis spewing any venom toward Huffington Post and the failure of crowd sourcing. He says newspapers blew it, and he’s sticking to it, even when the evidence clearly demonstrates that crowdsourcing isn’t working on a simple story like the GM dealer closing list.
Jarvis writes for Huffington Post. He teaches. He doesn’t work at a newspaper.
Stand by for the General Motors dealer closing list. It will be here as soon as GM releases it.
UPDATE: If you’re visiting from RapidCityJournal.com, I’m not usually as rude as I was to Jeff Jarvis in the comments. He’s just such a blow hard that I lost control. If you comment, I’ll be nice. Promise.
