Chrysler also announced that out of the 789 dealers whose contracts were rejected during Chrysler 's bankruptcy, more than 50 percent of them are still in business, selling other brands. The company says it has launched a job-posting function to match displaced dealership employees with remaining dealerships. Chrysler's data shows that until now, 239 dealerships have hired 436 displaced employees, while 202 open jobs are available.
Chrysler also tried to somehow explain their dealer-related actions while under reorganization. It says it has been reducing the size of its dealer network for more than 10 years, with the bankruptcy process only speeding things up.
"If Congress reverses this process, it flies in the face of a U.S. vehicle market that has declined 40 percent since 2007," Peter Grady, Chrysler vice president said in a statement on the company's blog, "Indeed, the U.S. dealer network was built to serve a market that once sold 16 million vehicles a year. Those days are gone."
The company also pointed out the cost of supporting underperforming dealers. Chrysler noted it will spend $33 million/year in administrative costs to maintain 789 discontinued dealers, $150 million/year to advertise their business, $1.5 billion in lost revenue due to underperformance (55,000 lost vehicle sales) and $1.4 billion (over 4 years) for product engineering and development of "sister" vehicles, as the majority of the dealer network did not have all three brands under one roof (Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge).
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