Lincoln GM dealers appear safe

BY MATT OLBERDING/Lincoln Journal Star
Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 - 04:22:35 pm CDT

Tim Pieper was on the Internet Tuesday afternoon, trying to find information about the Swedish company that has agreed to buy Saab from General Motors.

Pieper, owner and general manager of Sid Dillon in Lincoln, said he hadn’t “heard a thing” about his status as a Saab dealer, and learned about the sale of the brand to Koenigsegg Automotive AB, a tiny Swedish company that produces only a dozen custom-made super cars a year, from the media.

The news about Pieper’s other GM brand, Buick, was better. He learned recently through a letter from GM that his dealership south of 27th Street and Pine Lake Road is not among the 21 Nebraska dealers the automaker is targeting to lose their franchises.

“Yes, we’re on board” with the new GM, he said.

Across the street, the news was the same at DuTeau Chevrolet Subaru.

“We have got a letter, and we’re being retained,” said Lynn Sunderman, general manager of DuTeau.

The news means Lincoln GM dealers likely dodged the termination bullet.

Husker Auto Group could not be reached Tuesday, but the dealership on 27th Street near the Interstate 80 interchange would seem an unlikely target of the automaker, which said in a document made public Friday that it is mostly targeting small dealerships that sell fewer than 50 cars a year.

One small Nebraska dealership that is on the list is Janke Auto Co. in Pender.

A news release sent out Monday by the Nebraska Farmers Union referred to the dealership as a “Ma and Pa” business that has been in the Janke family for 55 years.

Janke Auto and other Nebraska auto dealers employ more than 6,000 people, the Farmers Union said.

“Closing these businesses will force rural customers to travel greater distances to spend their dollars away from their home communities,” said Farmers Union President John Hansen. “In addition, many loyal customers may never get over the hard feelings and ill will that GM and Chrysler executives have created.”

Chrysler already has terminated the franchise agreements of nine Nebraska dealerships, but GM’s plans are not yet final.

Attempting to save those dealers targeted by GM, Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning waded into the fray Monday, sending letters to all state attorneys general, urging them to consider the consumer and anti-trust implications of GM’s recent claims that it can ignore state laws that protect consumers and dealerships.

“What GM is trying to do in Nebraska and other states is unconscionable,” said Bruning, who plans to file an objection with the bankruptcy court handling GM’s case this week.

Bruning also objected to the agreements GM is forcing both continuing and terminated dealerships to sign, saying the agreements give the new GM complete control over the dealers beyond anything allowed by law. The new agreements amount to ultimatums that force current dealers to waive state laws enacted to protect them, he said.

DuTeau’s Sunderman said the new contract does contain some different language about sales targets and access to inventory, but he has no problems with it.

“We’re very comfortable with where we’re sitting,” he said.

Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.