It's Official. GM to close 1/3 of Canadian Dealers

[claudster]

Nice to hear that Old Mill is going. I had the pleasure of dealing with thier sleezy-slimy sales rep and even slimier sales manager while helping a female friend lease a Pontiac Vibe. Based on what we experienced on the sales floor, I would hate to see what the service department would do to her.
Here are a few other Pontiac Buick dealers that I will be happy to see go based on my less than satisfying sales and service experiences: Pine View Pontiac Buick GMC, and Woodbine Pontiac Buick.
On the other hand, I hope that GM does not do anything silly like cancel a small dealer with high CSI scores and high repeat buisness, while it lets a Woodbine type dealer exist becasue they have high volume in a large suburban market.

[Honda Owner]

I hope that GM does not do anything silly like cancel a small dealer with high CSI scores and high repeat buisness,

Knowing GM as well as I do, they would do just that. Their business model was always about moving metal and cash flow. CSI was always on the back burner with them, whereas Honda and Toyota stores live or die by it. A large Toyota dealership here in Vancouver had their franchise pulled last year due to a CSI score that would be high at GM.

Go figure eh?

[mmret]

Too many dealerships for GM.  In the Windsor and surrounding areas, there are at least 10+ GM dealerships.  There is ONE Toyota.  ONE Honda.  ONE BMW/Mercedes (both under one roof). FOUR Fords. SIX Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge. ONE Mazda.  ONE VW. ONE Saturn.  ZERO Acura.  ZERO Subaru.

Kind of weird how that stuff happens. What was guy who put up the 10th GM dealer or the sixth Chrysler dealer thinking, exactly?

[2hondas1BMW]

Will the remaining dealers have the resources and space to accommodate the extra load of customers, especially the service departments?

[Thinking Out Loud]

I would assume that you would see people with warantee-period service and work or newer vehicles filling up the bays - assuming that they are 100% filled already, which I don't think is the case. 

People with older vehicles outside of warantee will likely migrate out of the dealer repair circle and start to get stuff done at a Midas or similar if the timeline for dealer service becomes an issue. 

Light service like oil changes (in or out of warantee period) will wind up at the quicky lube type facilities.

Unfortunately, it's probably the people with older units that would hang around the showroom looking at the newer cars and most likely to consider a new car purchase will be the ones out of the impulse buy of 'wouldn't it be nice' while waiting for new shocks installed on their 2000 Cavalier.

At least the service bays will be better utilized at a few shops than underutilized at dozens....

[Honda Owner]

Will the remaining dealers have the resources and space to accommodate the extra load of customers, especially the service departments?

It would be easy. The shop I worked at was so poorly run in the first place shop efficiency could have increased by 30% by making the mechanics (and they are not "techs" that implies the ability to do more than swap parts off and OBD code) do their own oil changes. The shops could increase the number of mechanics or have the guys work in two cars at once, something I never saw in my GM store. Each guy should be able to easily put ten hours on his ticket. I have seen a lot more. At my Chrysler store one guy never had less than twelve and also had the lowest come back rate.

[Stuff]

Has there been any official list released?

[DockMan]

Good Article: Kind of reflects my thoughts that any arbitrary dealer cull will have a very immediate negative effect to the bottom line. It seems to me that a longer term....5-10 year gradual ramp down based on business strength would be ideal.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/editorial-why-chrysler-and-gms-dealer-slash-and-burn-wont-work/

Some Excerpts:

The grand poobahs at the PTFOA are Wall Street bankers and political insiders. None of them have built or run real businesses designing, marketing, selling and supporting high priced consumer products. Everything they think they know they learned from books and lectures, not from actually doing stuff. The old story goes: “When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” To the Wall Street types, slash and burn is the hammer they know.

my emphasis 

All of those arguments point to second order effects, not primary effects. GMAC’s floorplanning business, for example, has historically been wildly profitable. Credit worthy dealers paying their floorplan loans on a timely basis are a benefit to GMAC, not a liability. What bank hates having good paying revolving loan customers?

Franchise discipline practices which enforce quality standards are long overdue, but swinging the hatchet pell mell is no solution to that problem.

The rational thing to be doing right now would be a selective culling of dealerships based on quality and financial stability criteria. Most of the really bad dealerships will self-destruct without any help from Detroit or mean spirited zone managers. Instead of this, we are seeing summary decimation carried out as a result of the “appear to do something bold” political imperative.

my emphasis

[DockMan]

Has there been any official list released?

I'd really like to see a list too, the rest of us outside "CoU" are wondering how our local dealers faired!

[y2chuck]

Mississauga Saturn is gone, went to look at an Astra and it was vacated.

[PJungnitsch]

GM made it policy (AFAIK) not to release an official list, but GMI has compiled quite a big one so far:

AB- Beaverhill GMC pontiac Buick 5031 - 53rd Avenue, Tofield. AB
AB- D.W. Paradee Pontiac Buick GMC Inc. 5404 - 48 Avenue, Taber, AB
AB- Devon Chevrolet Oldsmobile Ltd 7 Saskatchewan Avenue West Devon, SK
AB- Grove Pontiac Buick GMC, 200 St. Matthews Ave. Spruce Grove, AB
AB- Murray Chevrolet 7820 Sparrow Crest Leduc AB
AB- Northland Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd - 5100 Shaganappi Trail NW, Calgary, AB
AB- Northway Pontiac Buick Ltd 4815 Street, Redwater AB
AB- Ponoka Chevrolet Ltd. 6305 Avenue Ponoka, AB
AB- Rempel Chevrolet 4601-49 Street Hardisty, AB
AB- Schwab's Wetaskiwn Chevrolet 4710 - 56 Street Wetaskiwin, AB
AB- Shaganappi South. 7711 Macleod Trail SW. Calgary, AB
AB- Southgate Chevrolet - 15100 MacLeod Trail SE, Calgary, AB
AB- Stampede GMC Pontiac Buick; 1110 - 9 Ave SW; Calgary AB
AB- Stedelbauer Chevrolet Inc 13145 97 Street NW Edmonton, AB
AB- Sundre Motors Chevrolet Address: 104 Main Avenue East, Sundre, AB
AB- Three Hills Motors Chevrolet Pontiac Buick GMC 2 Street North Three Hills AB
BC- Barnes Wheaton Pontiac Buick GMC 1090 Lougheed Highway, Coquitlam BC
BC- Barnes Wheaton Pontiac Buick GMC 6280 - 120 Street Surrey, BC
BC- Barrie Brown Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd 2700 North Island Hwy, Campbell River, BC
BC- Dennison Chevrolet Ltd 13100 Smallwood Place Richmond BC
BC- Flag Chevrolet, 15250 104th Ave, Surrey, BC
BC- Gold Key Pontiac Langley. 19545 #10 Hwy. Surrey, BC
BC- Mike Finneron Pontiac Buick 250 Old Island Hwy Courtenay, BC
MB- Birchwood Pontiac Buick GMC 3965 Portage Ave. MB
MB- Brodeur Brothers Chevrolet Po Box 100 Stn Main St Adolphe MB
MB- Frowler Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd 3900 Victoria Ave. West, BRANDON, MB,
MB- Gillis Service Garage LTD Pontiac Buick GMC 14 Main Street, Elie MB
MB- Park Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd 1459 Regent Avenue West Winnipeg, MB
MB- Parkwood Auto LTD. Pontiac Buick GMC 3 Mian Street, Erickson, MB
MB- Rosenort Motors Chevrolet HWY #205 Rosenort MB
NB- Checkpoint GMC Pontiac Buick LTD 349 King George Highway, Miramichi NB
NB- Plaza Chevrolet Pontiac Buick GMC - 240 Val-d'Amour Rd, Campbellton, NB
NS- A O'Farrell Chevrolet LTD 465 Westville Rd ew Glasgow, NS
NS- Bonnyman Pontiac Buick GMC 29 Crescent Drive, Stn Main Kentville. New Minas, NS
NS- Eastern GMC Pontiac Buick Ltd. 63 Beech Hill Road Antigonish, NS
NS- Hatheway Pontiac Buick GMC LTD 1945 Miramichi Ave. Bathurst NB
NS- Stuart Pontiac Buick Ltd 265 Highway 2 Truro, NS
ON- AB Cox Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd 305 Wellington Street East Aurora,
ON- Andre Lanoue Pontiac Buick GMC 85 Mill Street West Tilbury, On
ON- Belanger Pontiac Buick GMC Inc at 1492 Youville Dr, Orleans, ON
ON- Bill Spencer Chevrolet Ltd 1090 Elgin Street West, Cobourg, ON
ON- Bill Storey Pontiac Buick GMC at 1515 Lansdowne W, Peterborough
ON- Bob Clute Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd. Address: #6692 Hwy 62 North R.R. #5. Belleville, On
ON- Bob Searles Chevrolet - 566 Queen E, St Marys, ON
ON- Border Pontiac Buick GMC 4318 Portage Rd South Niagara Falls On.
ON- Brian Finch Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd - 300 Southdale Road East, London, ON
ON- Budds Saturn Saab 2400 South Service Road West Oakville On
ON- Central Motors Pontiac Buick GMC (Pelham) Ltd. 227 Highway #20 East, Fonthill, ON
ON- City Chevrolet Ltd 155 Cannon St E Hamilton, ON
ON- Colonial Chevrolet Ltd 18100 Young Street Newmarket On
ON- Condie Pontiac Buick Ltd 790 Gardiners Road Kingston, ON
ON- Cullen Gary Pontiac Buick GMC 141 King George Road Brantford, ON
ON- Dale Downie Pontiac Buick GMC Trucks 1995 Inc. 1111 Oxford St. E. London Ontario
ON- Dale Wurfel Pontiac Buick Gmc Ltd 28478 Centre Road Strathroy, ON
ON- Dave Hitchcock Chevrolet; 224 Talbot St N; Essex ON
ON- Dennis Murphy Pontiac Buick GMC LTD - 2200 Eagle Street North Cambridge ON
ON- Dennis Searles Chevrolet Ltd. 160 Argyle Street S. Caledonia
ON- Don Howson Toronto Chevrolet - 2135 Sheppard Avenue East Toronto ON
ON- Donnelly Pontiac Buick GMC at 1325 Johnston Rd, Ottawa, ON
ON- Ellis Bob Pontiac-Buick Ltd 397 St George N Dresden, ON
ON- Fordham Chevrolet Pontiac Bucik GMC Ltd 165 Queens Line rodney, ON
ON- Frank Lauria Pontiac Buick Ltd 50 Benson Ct, Port Hope, ON
ON- Gary Cooper Chevrolet LTD South David Rd Elora On.
ON- Giles Chevrolet Oldsmobile Ltd 5964 Main Stouffville, ON
ON- Gillespie Pontiac Buick Cadillac Ltd 16 Lincoln Street Welland, ON
ON- Gus Brown Pontiac Buick GMC LTD 10 Vanedward Drive Port Perry, ON
ON- Hawley Pontiac Buick GMC 225 DUNDAS STREET EAST, MISSISSAUGA On.
ON- HMP On The Mountain-Pontiac-Buick-Cadillac-GMC 2260 Rymal Rd E Hamilton, ON
ON- Jerome Taylor Pontiac Buick GMC Inc1155 Provincial Road Windsor, ON
ON- John Gibbons Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd 725 Richmond Chatham Chatham ON
ON- John Logan Chevrolet; 241 Queen Street East; Brampton ON
ON- Laurie Williamson Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd 3045 Glen Erin Drive Mississauga, ON
ON- Lee Munro Chevrolet. 103 Dundas St. East. Paris, ON
ON- Leggat Chevrolet Oldsmobile Ltd. Auto Repairs. 360 Rexdale Boulevard , Etobicoke , ON
ON- Markville Chevrolet Inc 5336 Highway 7 Markham, ON
ON- Marvin Starr 3132 Eglinton Ave East Toronto, ON
ON- Mcneil Motor Sales (Manotick) Ltd Chevrolet 1346 Bankfield Rd Manotick Manotick, ON
ON- Meadow Mills Pontiac Buick GMC 6600 Turner Valley Road Mississauga ON
ON- Mid North Motors Pontiac Buick GMC Cadillac Ltd. 2100 The Kingsway, Sudbury On
ON- Mike McMahon Chevrolet Limited 1066 Broad Street East, Dunnville On
ON- Newham Chevrolet Inc at 18 William, Merlin, ON
ON- Niagara Motors Pontiac, Buick, GMC 1537 Niagara Stone Road Virgil ON
ON- Old Mill Pontiac Buick Toronto Ontario, Dundas ON
ON- Pearce Motors Ltd at 130 Simcoe St, Tillsonburg ON
ON- Pine View Pontiac Buick LYD 3790 Highway #7 Vaughan On.
ON- Plaza Pontiac Buick GMC 3400 Dufferin Street Toronto ON
ON- Port Pontiac Buick Body Shop 611 Main St W Port Colborne, On
ON- Richardson Chevrolet. Regional Road 25 South, Milton, ON
ON- Rick McCall Pontiac Buick GMC 144 Queensway East Simcoe, On
ON- Robinson Pontiac Buick GMC located at 875 Woodlawn Road West, Guelph ON
ON- Saturn Isuzu of Brampton 8046 Dixie Road Brampton, ON
ON- Sheridan Chevrolet Cadillac Ltd 1800 Kingston Road Pickering On,
ON- Slessor Moters Pontiac Buick GMC 17645 Younge Street Newmarket On
ON- Stoneleigh Moters Pontiac Buick GMC Cadillac 9186 Highway #93 Midland, ON
ON- Thrasher Sales Chevrolet Ltd 251 Simcoe Street Amherstburg, ON
ON- Tim Haines Chevrolet Cadillac Inc 890 Wallace N Listowel, On
ON- Trillium Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd 35 Auto Mall Drive Scarborough, ON
ON- Trillium Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd 35 Auto Mall Drive Scarborough, ON
ON- Turpin Pontiac Buick GMC LTD 2500 Palladium Dr. Ottawa, On
ON- Unionville Motors (1973) Ltd 4630 Hwy 7 E Unionville Unionville, ON
ON- Upper Canada Motor Sales Chevrolet Ltd 12375 Hwy #2 Morrisburg, ON
ON- Wallis Pontiac Buick Gmc Ltd 1103 Confederation Street, Sarnia ON
ON- West York Chev 1785 St Clair W Toronto Toronto, ON
ON- Woodbine Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd 25 Vice Regent Boulevard Etobicoke, ON
ON- Woodbine Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd 25 Vice Regent Boulevard Etobicoke, ON
QC- Beaucage Chevrolet Cadillac 4339 Boul, Bourque Sherbrooke QC
QC- Demers Chevrolet Inc. 868 Maloney BLVD Gatineau QC
QC- Dyson & Armstrong Inc. 555 Craig, Richmond QC
QC- Formule Pontiac Buick GMC Inc 2595 rue Saint-Olivier Trois-Rivières, QC
QC- Lamoureux Pontiac Buick (Fax)396 Rue Main Ouest Coaticook QC
QC- Larocque Pontiac Buick GMC 825 boulevard Saint-Joseph Drummondville QC
QC- STE-THéRèSE Chevrolet 105, boul. Desjardins Est Sainte-Thérèse, QC
QC- Thibault Pontiac Buick GMC 1761 rue Sherbrooke Magog QC
SK- Mountain Motor Products LTD Chevrolet Pontiac Buick GMC 402 Railway Ave Strasbourg, Sk
SK- Owen's & Sweitzer 1972 Ltd, 124 Railway SE SK
SK- Reid Motors Limited • 218 Saskatchewan Avenue W., Outlook, SK


116 OF 245
GM Dealers making "no Comment" statements:

Andre lanoue Pontiac - Tilbury Ontario,
Boyer Chevrolet Alliston. 4906 Concession # 7, Alliston, ON
Bupont Motors Pontiac Buick GMC 1180 Riverside Dr. Timmins On
Cheyenne Motor Products in Melfort, Unity Motors GM, and Lakewood GM in Nipawin.
Dave Seabrook Moters Inc Chevrolet Pontic Buick GMC Thessalon On
Downtown Pontiac Buick Ltd. 449 Queen Street W. On
Georgian Pontiac Buick GMC 65 Barrie View Dr. Barrie Ontario
GM dealerships in Amherst, Antigonish, Bridgewater, Glace Bay, New Glasgow, Sydney and Truro either declined comment
Grey Moters Pontiac Buick GMC Highway 6 #717936 RR5 Box 790 Owen Sound, ON
Harriston Motors Ltd. 235 Elora St. S., Harriston, ON
Humberview Pontiac Buick GMC LTD. 1650 The Queensway, Toronto On
John Cullen Chevrolet LTD 115 Josephine, Wingham On
Kerr Cadillac Pontiac Buick Inc 410 South Service RD W. Oakville On
McCutcheon Motors Chevrolet Ltd. Turnberry St. S Brussels on
Mike McMahon Chevrolet Limited 1066 Broad Street East Dunnville, On
Roy Foss Chevrolet 2 Auto Park Circle Woodbridge, ON
Tasse Automobiles Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd. 2345 Regent Street South, Sudbury On

Alberta Dealers - 16
British Columbia - 7
Manitoba - 7
New Brunswick - 2
Nova Scotia - 5
Ontario - 68
Quebec - 8
Saskatchewan - 3

Constantly updated:

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f70/just-gm-canada-dealers-learn-fate-tomorrow-79554/index20.html

[21Rouge]

Where I live there are 3 GM dealerships within range i.e. relatively convenient for warranty work or service. I now see that all 3 are to be closed down  . As far as I can tell the next closest GM dealership is 14 kms away...all stop and go, town driving. Maybe we were spoiled but in this new almost GMless world all that comes to mind is the uncertainty re warranty work and service on our new GM car. As it stands now our family could only do either of these on...our holidays  .

[tpl]

Read about our Pontiac dealer ( Robinson in Guelph) but PJ entered the list before I got to the PC.

I gather they have been in G for 45 years... they say they'll keep on going with 2nd hand cars and are open to another, probably import, franchise.   G needs a Subie dealer.

[DockMan]

Thanks much PJungnitsch for the list and link.

[articsteve]

The Pontiac Buick dealer in Owen Sound who is listed as "no comment" is OUT.  Owner, Jerry Pheil, is a guy who started with ZERO, super worker, bought this store about 7 years ago.  Too bad his product/company was such crap.  Dad works there as well.  He'll be wiped out while Wagnor, Lutz et al sucked 10 of millions in compensation out of the sinking ship.

[claudster]

I find it ironic that several of the cancelled dealers (Pine View, Woodbine, and Legget) are dealers that my family have dealt with at one time or another. Unfortunately those experiences have been less than satisfactory, so my family will not shed a tear.

[G0dspd]

NB- Checkpoint GMC Pontiac Buick LTD 349 King George Highway, Miramichi NB
NB- Plaza Chevrolet Pontiac Buick GMC - 240 Val-d'Amour Rd, Campbellton, NB

NS- Hatheway Pontiac Buick GMC LTD 1945 Miramichi Ave. Bathurst NB

3 for New-Brunswick.  With Pontiac leaving in 2010/2011, it's no surprise that Chevy dealers were spared.  Hatheway in Bathurst (hometown) was owned by my father's friend but he sold it 2 years ago.  Good move!  The new owner is the brother of the guy who owns Hatheway Ford on the other side of the bridge. 

[sirAQUAMAN64]

I'm VERY surprised at some of the dealers who received letters. Think less dealers is a better thing in the long run and agree with some of the rationale, but there's no immediate benefit and feel GM is closing too many, too quickly.

[Honda Owner]

No surprise to see Dennison in Richmond BC got it, their service manager used to be a writer and he is known as one the biggest thieves in the industry around here. The owners were so retarded that they loved the guy, they didn't seem to care he was selling old ladies alignments on cars with 10,000 km on them in a place withe practically no pot holes. That was only the tip of the ice berg........

Besides, Richmond if 90% Asian and Asians don't drive Chevys. Not very often, anyway. Like almost never.

[articsteve]

Same goes for ON- Old Mill Pontiac Buick Toronto Ontario, Dundas ON in the west end of TO.  Crooks.