Chrysler plans to eliminate 789 of its U.S. 3,200 dealerships and seven Chrysler dealerships in Connecticut are on that list.
The company's bankruptcy court filing includes a plan to close Chrysler dealerships in Newtown, Naugatuck, Woodbridge, Torrington, Enfield, New London and Middletown.
The following dealerships are named:
- Amaral Motors, Newtown.
- Country Motors, DBA Bob's Dodge, Naugatuck.
- Crest Dodge, Woodbridge.
- Edward J. Wilson's Sons, Torrington.
- Enfield Chrysler Plymouth, Enfield.
- Favley's Inc., New London.
- Holley Chrysler Dodge Jeep, Middletown.
Amaral Motors in Newtown said they received the notification but that does not mean they will close completely. They will remain a state emissions testing station, company officials said. The company sells used cars and is still a parts dealer and repair shop.
They are weighing their options and have not yet decided whether to appeal Chrysler's decision.
Last week, Daniel Amaral, of Amaral Motors, told the News Times he expected Chrysler to drop him.
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His father, Anthony, started the company with one brick showroom in 1930, he told the newspaper. In 1936, Anthony Amaral became a Chrysler dealer and that has been the family business ever since. He told the newspaper he does not sell a lot of new cars, and that would probably will mean the end of his relationship with Chrysler.
Holley Chrysler had already closed.
In a motion filed Thursday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, Chrysler says its network of dealers is antiquated and has too many stores competing with each other.
The company says many of the dealers' sales are too low and that just over 50 percent of the dealers account for about 90 percent of the company's U.S. sales. Dealers can appeal the move.
Chrysler has received $4 billion in federal loans and has been operating in bankruptcy protection since April 30.
A couple hours before the list of affected dealers was published, Gov. M. Jodi Rell held a public signing ceremony for a law to protect Connecticut car dealerships.
The legislation is meant to protect dealers so they would not be left in a financial bind for new car inventories, tools or parts when a manufacturer shuts down a product line.
The law also clarifies details of franchise agreements and creates a new system for reimbursing warranty service and labor costs. It also requires payment of the fair market value of the goodwill of a franchise if a product line is shut down.
Before the latest closings, 50 dealerships had closed in the state, affecting thousands of families.
“About half of them have closed just since the start of 2009. That has cost the state about 2,000 jobs, meaning there are 2,000 families wondering how to keep their lives together, how to pay the mortgage and doctor bills, how to buy food and gas. The loss of these businesses has implications for the state as well, since in normal times we receive about $350 million a year in revenues from sales taxes on car sales. This is an issue that touches us all.”
