Changes on auto row

GM pulls out from one dealership

By JENNIFER HUFFMAN
Register Business Writer

Beginning in late 2010, Napans looking to buy a new Cadillac or Buick will have to travel out of town.

This month GM informed local operator Jenson Motor Center that it wouldn’t renew the dealer’s Buick and Cadillac franchises. The change becomes effective Oct. 31, 2010.

“We’re all disappointed,” said owner Scott Jenson. But the loss isn’t as bad as it might seem. “GM has not been a big part of our business for many years,” said Jenson. Buick and Cadillac make up only 5 percent of his sales, he said. His other two franchises, Volkswagen and Subaru, move more vehicles by far.

“The big deal is the emotional connection,” he said. Napa has been home to a Buick dealership since 1903 and a Cadillac dealership since the 1920s. Jenson Motor Center began selling Buick and Cadillac in 1965, said Jenson.

“People still refer to us as Jenson Cadillac,” he said. “We used to have a Cadillac limousine to shuttle our customers.”

Jenson appealed GM’s decision, but he doesn’t expect a reversal. “We’re going to focus on Subaru and Volkswagen as, quite frankly, we have been for the last couple years.”

Even after the Buick and Cadillac franchises close, he said, “We can keep servicing and doing warranty work on any GM vehicle in town.”

Bill Kastner Jr. of Kastner GMC Honda, received a different letter from GM. He can continue selling GMC automobiles, but must do so in a separate building from his Honda inventory.

Kastner originally predicted either he would lose his GMC franchise or Jenson would lose Buick. “It was one of us that was going to go,” said Kastner. “I feel terrible for Jenson.”

Kastner hopes to find a new building to fulfill GM’s requirements. He believes that GM may ultimately combine GMC and Buick franchises. “They have not offered (Buick) to us but we know that’s their goal,” he said.

Meanwhile, at GM franchisee Jimmy Vasser Chevrolet-Toyota, “It’s very much business as usual,” said General Manager Bob Kleis.

As required by his GM participation agreement, separate buildings already house Vasser’s Chevrolet and Toyota dealerships. If the dealership hadn’t already done so, “we’d be in the same position” as Kastner, he said.

“At some point down the line we’ll be looking at doing a remodel or upgrade of our existing Chevy dealership,” also required by GM, said Kleis.

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