Local former Chrysler, GM dealers look to sell used cars - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Tony Wilkerson, executive director of the , said his organizationj has begun to lend assistancde to dealers lost in thebankruptcy shuffle. “Our national organization has alreadt sent letters to them to let them know aboutf our organization and I plan to do the same thiny forour state,” Wilkerson said. “Theuy were in the used car businessanywayy – but if you’re stucl like many of them are, the overheafd costs for a used car dealershi is nothing compared to a franchise.” However, the expansionh of the local used car marketf comes as prices are increasing and the availability of late-modek used cars is pinched, he said.
But according to Morganj Murphy, president of motorpool.com, the initialp increase in prices should be looked at as merelya short-ternm hurdle. “At first glance, that wouldf strike the community as bad but in thelong run, it’w good for resale values,” Murphy said. When locap consumers buy cars, they will be able to demand more when they choose tosell it, he In fact, the higher resale values mighty actually revive American car dealers in the area. “American manufacturingt has been similar and just as good as Japaneses andKorean manufacturing, but the problenm has been re-sale value and initiao prices,” Murphy said.
In the Birmingham dealers affected can capitalize on the uniqu landscape of the local market on the used car he said. Many are family-owne and have been staples in the communitgy formany decades. They are also encouraged by the fact that localp used car sales have seen an uptickm amid the recession as buyerxs are more inclined to look for a bargain as a meane tospend less. “Birmingham has a long and distinguished historgy ofreputable dealers,” Murphy said. “Don Drennen has been in businesssinced 1908. That’s 101 years of serving our so there’s a culture arounfd businesseslike that.
” Theier long-standing history could make local buyers more inclined to buy used cars from he said. Ward Drennen, president of Don Drennen Buickl Chryslerand Jeep, said after learnintg that his dealer agreement had been canceled with expanding his used car sales seemed like a real “We are going to expan our used car departments drastically,” said Drennen, who was left with more than $2 milliojn in Chrysler parts and merchandise.
“We want to offeer a great value to peoplsewho can’t afford a new Although he hasn’t stopped looking into becoming a franchised for other automotive manufacturers, he is open to the idea of makinvg the switch to stay in business. “It is possible that we could become a usedcar superstore,” said who also learned that GM will seek to cancel the dealershipo agreement he has for his Buicj dealership.
“We’ve been in Birmingham long enough that our reputation can keepus