In the shadow of a big blue inflated gorilla perched on the roof, bright yellow signs shouted "Ultimate Liquidation Event." Deep price cuts, painted in bold neon letters, adorned the windshield of nearly every car on the Garden Grove dealership lot.
Janice and Yao Huang arrived on a hot afternoon looking for a bargain.
"We're here for the sale," Yao told Danny Covin as he approached, squinting in the sun. "We heard you are closing down. Do you have things on sale?"
A grimace flickered across the salesman's face. But then Covin smiled, nodded and slowly turned to show them the Jeeps he had in stock, many with prices $4,000 or more below sticker.
The young Irvine couple had been thinking about buying a new Jeep for some time. They said they didn't seriously consider doing so until they heard about the woes of Chrysler, Jeep's parent company, at which point they searched online for the nearest dealership.
That brought them here to the Union Chrysler Jeep Dodge on Trask Avenue. It's one of 789 dealerships nationwide whose franchise agreements with Chrysler will be severed June 9. The bankrupt automaker says that aggressively shrinking its network of 3,200 dealers is a painful but necessary step as it tries to return to viability.
Dealers slated for closure will have to unload, at a loss, the vehicles and parts they can't sell before that date.
Like other ill-fated dealers, Charles Lee, owner of the Union Chrysler Jeep Dodge, received notice in an express mail letter May 14. "We wish there were a better way, but there isn't," it read.
Because Chrysler is using the bankruptcy to break the contracts, it was obliged to publish a list of all the dealers it's targeting. That created a frenzy among buyers.
Salesmen like Covin, already struggling through the worst sales downturn in three decades, view the situation as a mixed blessing. Long-anemic showroom traffic is finally up, but everyone seems to expect fire-sale prices.
Customers have demanded:
"We want liquidation prices!"
"We want a deal!"
"We'll pay half price!"
In the end, the Huangs didn't buy, but they said they were pleased with the pricing and might come back to make a purchase.
"You can't blame folks for wanting a good deal," said Covin, trudging back to the spot on the lot where he prefers to stand, scanning the street for more customers.
