Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Local Ford Dealership Gets The Ax

   Employees of the local Ford dealership received word Wednesday around 2pm, their jobs will be lost, as the dealership is one of many under company control that has been targeted for closure.

   In May, as part of their reorganization in bankruptcy, both Chrysler and General Motors announced that they would terminate their contracts with many local auto dealerships. Chrysler terminated nearly 800 dealers the following month, while GM informed 1,100 dealers that their contracts would end next year.

   Recently, Lawrenceburg waited on word about two other automobile dealerships and their future.  Landmark Automotive, a Chrysler dealership, and Heritage Automotive, the local GM dealership, faced possible closure.  Employees there were relieved to learn they had avoided the chopping block. 

Employees of Steve Williams Ford, on the other hand, were surprised to hear from Ford about the closing of the Lawrenceburg dealership Wednesday.

  All automobiles are to be pulled from the lot by Thursday evening.  The doors closed Wednesday afternoon for the final time. 

General Manager Joe Colvet told Lawrenceburg Now that a formal announcement will come from Ford sometime Thursday. He was as surprised as anyone. The dealership had a good sales record.

15 year employee and office manager at Steve Williams Ford, Kim Risner, was sad and surprised. "It's gonna hit the community hard, it's gonna hit us hard. It's an emotional time, but we'll make it though."

Employees will work through final sales of pending vehicles purchased prior to the announcement and other business matters.

   The local closing affects an estimated 25 employees. Ford officials plan to close approximately 300 dealerships as part of a company owned dealer cut back.

   Analysts have long recognized that the Detroit-based automakers have an outsized dealer network. The excess dealerships are in part a legacy of earlier times when Detroit sold many more cars than today, and in part the result of demographic and business changes that have made fewer dealers necessary.

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