Chrysler moves to eliminate 8 Arkansas dealers

Chrysler will close eight Arkansas dealerships, including the two in Little Rock as part of its bankruptcy plan.

Under the plan, Crain and Cook Chrysler dealerships will have a little more than three weeks to close down. But dealers aren't going down without a fight.

Crain Chrysler Dodge Jeep says the announcement caught management off guard. Saying in a statement that Chrysler gave no indication that our dealership would be targeted for closure. It's a shock that's spreading to over 800 Chrysler dealers nationwide.

"I think Chrysler has made a huge mistake," says Charlie Cook.

One in four Chrysler dealerships will close June 9th. When we came to Cook Chrysler/Jeep, owner Ethel Cook told me she hadn't received official notification from Chrysler yet, and couldn't say anything but her brother Charlie did.

“They got no lead time on this, total surprise," Cook says.

He says the dealership has been in Little Rock for 95 years, focused primarily on being service oriented, not a big sales dealership.

"It appears to me that Chrysler has made a decision that has nothing to do with customer satisfaction and has all to do with who they think have the prettiest facilities and the greatest capability to sell high volume cars," Cook says.

Cook Chrysler is upset, not just because it is set to close, but how word of that closure came in -- not from Chrysler, but from media reports.

"Whether it was Chrysler or the bankruptcy judge, it doesn't matter who it was, it's just appalling that the dealers are being notified in the manner that they are," Cook says.

The downtown Little Rock dealership has 17 employees who may only have three weeks left with a job. And the state's largest city left without a Chrysler dealer.

"I'm concerned this dealer cut, especially for the mom and pop small stores, and the 20,000 people who've given us their business in downtown Little Rock, they're not going to move out to the surviving dealers,” Cook says. “They're going to go to a different automobile manufacturer."

Crain says it will take actions with the federal bankruptcy court and the Arkansas motor vehicle commission to block Chrysler's attempt to eliminate their dealership. However, whatever happens, they won't be firing employees, telling FOX16 News each will have a job with one of their other nine dealers.


Dealerships include:

-Bob Carver's Cars & Trucks in Mena;

-Cook Jeep Chrysler Inc. in Little Rock;

-Crain Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Little Rock;

-Jim Bryant Motors in Springdale

-Jones Brothers Auto Inc. in Harrison;

-Louis George Motor Co. in Osceola;

-Malvern Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Malvern; and

-Steve Smith Country in Springdale.