A DODGE DEALER'S PERSPECTIVE
May 22, 2009
  
As a loyal and successful Dodge Dealer for over 22 years it is not a big surprise that given the current economy, the marketplace may not support the number of Dealers presently representing Chrysler Corporation products.  However, the methodology Chrysler Corporation is attempting to utilize to reduce its Dealer body is unlawful, unconstitutional, un-American and grossly unfair. 

 

What Chrysler Corporation is attempting to do, under President Obama's direction, is to use the United States Bankruptcy Court in New York to terminate 789 Dodge Chrysler Dealer Franchise Agreements, arbitrarily, capriciously, and without due process of law.   

 

The so called "criteria" establishing which Dealers will be terminated is seriously flawed and "non-transparent".  Many of the Dodge/Chrysler Dealers are profitable, employ many quality employees, support their communities and provide the necessary competition to insure that customers receive competitively priced vehicles.  By reducing the number of automobile Dealers you are certain to reduce competition and the undesired effect will be the increased prices that Americans will ultimately pay for the price of a car.  

Additionally, Chrysler is proposing to take away my franchise without compensating me for its value.  I have invested millions of dollars to acquire the Dodge franchise, the Dealership facility and the real estate.  Chrysler proposes to transfer my franchise and all the goodwill I created over a 22 year span to a Chrysler competitor, across the street, free of charge, without compensating me one cent.  This is occurring despite my Tamaroff Dodge Dealership continuously achieving high sales, high customer satisfaction index ratings, a 5-star Dealer status (Chrysler's highest achievement award), and over 22 years having built a loyal and satisfied customer base. 

 

It is like "Crystal Night" in Nazi Germany in 1938, but instead of the Nazis seizing "private property" without due process of law and compensation, Chrysler and President Obama are using the power of a Federal Bankruptcy Judge to trample and run roughshod over the rights of 789 Dodge/Chrysler Dealers.  By using the power and governmental action of the Federal Bankruptcy Court, Chrysler and President Obama are purposely avoiding all state laws and some federal laws which were specifically designed by lawmakers to protect the Dealer from the overwhelming power of the manufacturer.  Furthermore, where is the due process for an unconstitutional taking of my franchise rights without just compensation?

My fellow Americans, I am a WWII veteran and former P.O.W. who risked my life for our country to defeat National Socialism and Hitler's tyrannical Nazi regime. 

 

Never in my entire 82 years (50 years as an auto dealer and mechanical engineer) would I have anticipated the President of the United States and an appointed Federal Bankruptcy Judge trampling on my rights, seizing my property and potentially causing me to go into bankruptcy and in the process acting as instruments of FACISM.

President Obama, is this the change you promised the American people? Where is the transparency you promised on the campaign trial?  

 

To add insult to injury, Chrysler Corporation, at this date, will not buy back any of the Dealers' new car inventory; inventory they pushed on the Dealers in the last 90 days threatening them that if they did not purchase the cars from Chrysler they would be remembered come "termination day."

Finally, the worst point about this "Executive Branch sponsored taking" is the painful effect of laying off our people, many of whom have been with our company since the beginning.  They are like family.  It is like throwing your kids out on the street, with no job, no money, and no health care.  It is a heartbreaking experience for the employees, their families and for me.  

 

Recently, President Obama made a public statement that he is standing by the Dealers.

 

Yes, he is standing on their graves.  

 

Where is his leadership and foresight as he rushes to accomplish his agenda at the expense of 789 Dodge/Chrysler Dealers and their employees?  

 

President Obama and the Obama administration are directly responsible for orchestrating this ill conceived plan.

My fellow Americans, WAKE UP before you lose your livelihood and private property without just compensation.

If the Executive Branch and Judicial Branch can successfully complete this illegal seizure of property and transfer of wealth from one Dealer to another, then is any American's private property safe from unlawful government seizure? 

As the great Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said, "The problem with socialism is sooner or later you run out of the other guy's money."

God Bless our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and Our Great Country. 

Marvin M. Tamaroff