Richard Chrysler, Westside Dodge dealerships to be cut by Chrysler

Two local dealerships will need to fight to remain in business after Chrysler announced that it intended to cut ties to them and hundreds of its other domestic dealers.

Thursday, Chrysler LLC filed a motion in federal bankruptcy court asking a judge to grant them permission to eliminate about a quarter of its 3,200 U.S. dealerships by early June.

Richard Chrysler Jeep Dodge in St. Charles and Westside Dodge in North Aurora were  included on that list, along with more than 40 other Illinois dealerships selling Chrysler's  line of vehicles.

The troubled automaker said trimming its dealer network would allow it to operate its distribution system more efficiently and erase some of what it called a disadvantage in competing against such foreign automakers as Toyota and Honda.

Chrysler said those automakers operate a leaner, more efficient network of dealers, making them better suited to survive in current market conditions, when compared to Chrysler's dealer network model, which dates from the 1960s.

In 2008, Chrysler operated 3,900 dealerships, while Honda and Toyota each operated about 1,200. Yet each sold more vehicles than Chrysler in the U.S. in 2008.

In the court filing, Chrysler said it would seek to consolidate all three of its brands – Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge – at its remaining dealerships, and would seek to "reshape the network to realign the retail outlets using the best dealers in the best locations with the best facilities."

A representative of Richard Chrysler said his dealership "did not have a comment at this time."

And a message placed to Westside Dodge was not returned Thursday.

However, Michael Mertes, economic development coordinator for the city of St. Charles, said representatives of Richard Chrysler had indicated to him on Thursday that they intended to work to remain open, a course that might include appealing their inclusion on Chrysler's closure list.

"Their intention is to keep it open as long as they can," Mertes said. "They obviously don't want to just go out of business."

He said the city also would not wish for the dealership to close, as it, just as other auto dealers, brings in sales taxes to the city. Currently, 10 auto dealers operate in the city of St. Charles.

Mertes said the city would also assist Richard Chrysler in "any way that we reasonably and responsibly can."

Mertes would not discuss what type of assistance the city could offer, saying such actions would need to be discussed with the city's elected and appointed officials.

Should Richard Chrysler and Westside Dodge close, the market would be left largely to one Chrysler dealership, Riverfront Chrysler Jeep in North Aurora.

Bill McSkimming, owner of the Riverfront dealership, said he was relieved to not see his dealership's name on Chrysler's closure list.

"I felt we were good and had been doing everything right, so I thought we'd be OK," McSkimming said. "But you still don't know until it all comes down."

McSkimming said the company had mandated that the impacted dealerships close down either when the company emerges from bankruptcy or by June 9, which ever comes first.

While some of the names on the list shocked him, McSkimming said he believes his dealership will "unquestionably" benefit.

"Chrysler has, unfortunately, been over-dealered in a lot of markets for some time," McSkimming said. "We were competing not only against dealers selling competitors' cars, but against each other, too.

Fortunately for us, we will now have a bigger market to sell to, including St. Charles and Geneva, in a way we couldn't before."