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Bert Ogden Chevrolet in Mission trumped GM's average of 444 new auto sales a year, as did Charles Clark Chevrolet in McAllen. Harlingen's Charlie Clark Nissan beat Nissan Motor Co.'s average of 764, according to data from Cross-Sell, a company that tracks vehicle title data in 28 states, including Texas.
Finding solace in the South Texas economic haven, 13 of the close to 40 dealerships in Cameron, Starr and Hidalgo counties sold more than 1,000 new vehicles last year. Bob Boggus, whose Boggus Motor Sales lot in McAllen sold about 1,812 vehicles last year, attributed the success to the Valley's resilient economy and Mexican nationals.
"The money that's brought over here makes other businesses thrive," Boggus said.
The four lots that will lose their Chrysler franchise agreements in early June did not perform as well, but still three of them beat Chrysler's national average of 405 new auto sales. Ed Payne Mitsubishi-Jeep in Harlingen, which received a letter but is expected to remain open selling the import line, sold only 159 new vehicles last year.
One of the Chrysler lots not closing, Ed Payne Motors, sold 759 vehicles.
"Obviously they were not going to take out the best-performing dealers," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Detroit.
A week ago, Valley dealers said they dodged other cuts from General Motors Corps. But industry insiders said that if dealers were told their franchise agreements would expire in October 2010, few would make it known publicly. Chrysler franchises that lost their agreements with the manufacturer were made public in the carmaker's bankruptcy filing.
"It's a real sad situation," Boggus said of the cuts generally and how Chrysler's are publicly known. "The perception the consumer can have is 'why do I want to go back over there and buy a vehicle?'"
Jessica Caldwell, a research analyst for www.Edmunds.com, said that both GM and Chrysler are cutting dealerships to align with the Japanese model of fewer, but higher selling, dealers. Eliminating competition could also stem the race to the bottom as dealers and manufacturers drastically discount cars -- a move not necessarily beneficial to consumers.
"Incentives have gone to extremely unhealthy levels," she said. "These manufacturers aren't going to be in business if they keep having to discount cars."
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Sean Gaffney covers business, the economy and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4434.
To see more of The Monitor, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.themonitor.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Monitor, McAllen, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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