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Arnold Palmer Cadillac's southeast Charlotte dealership closed this week, the latest casualty of General Motors' financial troubles.
The dealership on Independence Boulevard was targeted this spring, when GM announced plans to slash about 2,000 dealers by late 2010 as part of its bankruptcy restructuring plan. It closed Tuesday, said Steve Coss, senior vice president and general counsel for Sonic Automotive, which owns the dealership.
“We viewed General Motors' decision as incorrect and unfortunate, but we were unable to persuade them to allow the Independence Boulevard franchise … to continue,” he said.
Arnold Palmer Cadillac's Pineville dealership – a larger and more modern facility, Coss said – will remain open.
Charlotte-area car dealers have been hit hard this year as the recession squeezed consumer spending and embattled automakers GM and Chrysler began closing thousands of dealerships nationwide. In the last year, about 100 N.C. dealerships have closed, leaving roughly 600 across the state, said Bob Glaser, president of the N.C. Automobile Dealers Association.
State and local dealers association officials said another Charlotte dealership, Queen City Lincoln Mercury, closed recently. Its owner, Ottis Vann, would not confirm that in a phone call this week. Court records turned up a number of lawsuits against the dealership, many involving money owed.
Auto sales climbed this summer, thanks to the government's Cash for Clunkers deal, but the double-digit unemployment rate has meant many consumers' budgets are still tight, Glaser said.
N.C. dealers expect some improvement in sales by the third quarter next year, but until then, “dealerships are still facing a lot of trials and tribulations,” he said.
