San Diego, Re: Kearny Mesa Dodge

From: JT McBride (mcbride@abac.com)
Date: Thu Nov 25 1999 - 12:21:56 EST


Hi Guys īn Gals,

This is a rumor, but Iīll spread it because it sounds like most of the
staff at KM Dodge has their resumeīs on the street because of it.

The rumor is that Roger Penske, who owns the dealership, is going to drop
the Dodge franchise, and convert to Toyota, so he has his Lexus and Toyota
dealerships door-to-door. I got the rumor from Robert at the parts counter.

Impact to Dakota/Durango owners: Maybe a fire sale on their parts stock???
Weīll lose one of the fastest, cheapest places to get Mopar parts. Sigh.

There are a couple reasons why I donīt think this makes sense, and
hopefully these will occur to the Penske folks:

1) Dodge sales have been doing quite well of late.
2) Low-end Lexi sales will be cannibalized by Toyota models.
3) The Toyota of KM (1/2 mi away) is well established, with decent reputation.

I donīt know whether the current Toyota dealership is also owned by Penske.
Could be. Seem to me that if he wanted to have the Lexus-Toyota
door-to-door deal, just swap franchise locations. I donīt know how the
dealership franchise contracts are written though... maybe itīs tied to a
location. I canīt see Toyota wanting two dealerships in such close
proximity. Maybe Daimler-Chrysler isnīt happy with KM Dodgeīs sales
techniques (Iīm not). So thereīs certainly more to the story than what Iīve
heard.

At any rate, with all the uncertainty, there are a lot of folks who arenīt
going to enjoy their Thanksgiving as much as they might. But when you donīt
know how long youīll have it, sometimes you appreciate what you have more.
Letīs all give thanks for what we have, and

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Jim McBride
ī93 CC 4x4 V8

PS. On their extra NOS parts shelf, they had an SBEC for a ī91 or ī92 B-van
with the same 3.9l V6 as a Dakota, for $25. Anyone who wanted to take one
apart to see what makes it tick, hereīs your chance!



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