D&E Dodge to close tomorrow amidst auto industry troubles

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has temporarily delayed Chrysler’s sale to Fiat. Meantime the clock is ticking for a local auto dealer. Barring a last minute legal miracle, D&E Dodge’s days in the Chrysler family are over as of Tuesday.

There are more and more holes in the line-up of new Dodges on the D&E lot and that’s a good thing. Sell that inventory before bankrupt Chrysler yanks D&E’s and 787 other franchises Tuesday. They were given just three weeks notice.

Andy Craven says they had their best sales month of the year in May; in fact, they led their district. “Sales have been excellent. It makes the pill all the harder to swallow that we were number one in sales.”

D&E had just over 100 new vehicles left. A dealer in South Carolina will buy most of them.

Meantime, there is a federal court hearing underway in New York in which dealers are fighting the Chrysler closings and time line. Chrysler says it’s sticking with the Tuesday deadline.