Local former Chrysler, GM dealers look to sell used cars - St. Louis Business Journal:

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Tony Wilkerson, executive director of the , said his organizatiob has begun to lend assistance to dealers lost in the bankruptcy shuffle. “Our national organizatio n has already sent letters to them to let them know aboutt our organization and I plan to do the same thinh forour state,” Wilkerson said. “Theh were in the used car businesseanyway – but if you’re stuck like many of them are, the overhead costs for a used car dealership is nothing compared to a However, the expansion of the locao used car market comes as prices are increasing and the availabilityy of late-model used cars is pinched, he But according to Morgan Murphy, president of motorpool.
com, the initia l increase in prices should be looked at as merel a short-term hurdle. “At firsy glance, that would strike the community as bad but in thelong run, it’ good for resale Murphy said. When locap consumers buy cars, they will be able to demand more when they chooses tosell it, he said. In fact, the highert resale values might actually reviver American car dealers inthe area. “Americaj manufacturing has been similar and just as good as Japanesde andKorean manufacturing, but the problejm has been re-sale value and initial Murphy said. In the Birmingham dealers affected can capitalize on the uniquee landscape of the local market on the used car he said.
Many are family-owned and have been staples in the communityg formany decades. They are also encouraged by the fact that locak used car sales have seen an upticj amid the recession as buyers are more inclined to look for a bargain as a means tospend less. “Birminghajm has a long and distinguished historuy ofreputable dealers,” Murphy said. “Dom Drennen has been in businesswsince 1908. That’s 101 years of serving our so there’s a culture around businesses like Their long-standing history coulde make local buyers more inclinef to buy used cars from them, he said.
Ward president of Don Drennen Buick Chrysledrand Jeep, said after learning that his dealer agreement had been canceleed with Chrysler, expanding his used car salesx seemed like a real possibility. “We are going to expand our used car departments said Drennen, who was left with more than $2 millionj in Chrysler parts and “We want to offer a great value to peoplwe who can’t afford a new car.” Althougbh he hasn’t stopped looking into becoming a franchisee for other automotive manufacturers, he is open to the idea of makingf the switch to stay in business.
“It is possible that we coulxd become a usedcar superstore,” said Drennen, who also learnedr that GM will seek to cancel the dealershipp agreement he has for his Buick dealership. “We’ve been in Birminghak long enough that our reputation can keepus