Dealer Meetings With Ford, Chrysler Execs Sometimes Turbulent

LAS VEGAS February 4, 2007; Tom Krisher writing for the AP reported that when several thousand Ford or Chrysler dealers meet with their corporate executives and things aren't going well, there's always tension and conflict. Sunday's meetings were no different.

At Chrysler's gathering at the National Automobile Dealers Association annual convention in Las Vegas, dealers jumped on Chief Executive Tom LaSorda about the company making them take unwanted inventory and a slow supply of popular cars.

At Ford Motor Co.'s meeting, the issue was too many dealers vying for too few customers and new products coming out too slowly, dealers said. The company meetings were closed to reporters.

Some Chrysler dealers walked away still grumbling. Many said they were optimistic that LaSorda would earn back their trust and that the company is headed in the right direction.

At Ford, many walked away optimistic, despite sagging sales and a staggering $12.7 billion loss last year.

"It's called Alan Mulally," dealer Gary Haupt, of Buckner, Ky., said of the company's new chief executive. "He's a breath of fresh air."

Mulally, hired last year from aviation giant Boeing Co., seemed to be a hit at the meeting. He got loud applause, dealers said, when he told them that they would see less arrogance and more confidence from the company in the future.

Mulally said after the meeting that he even agreed to a dealer's request to spend a couple of days on the showroom floor selling cars.

"I'm not bad in sales," he said. "I've got a little track record on this thing."

To the dealers, Mulally's tone is the right thing at the right time for a struggling company that to a large degree controls their livelihoods.

Harry Sames, owner of Sames Motor Co. in Laredo, Texas, said there's a huge difference between this year and last, when Ford's problems seemed to be worsening.

"We have a vision which I didn't feel like we had last year," he said.

Sames, who bought a second Ford dealership two years ago and is negotiating for a third, said Mulally understands what dealers need: "Better products that are on the ground timely, and few quality issues, create better profits for dealers."

Mulally, interviewed after the meeting, said his "arrogance" comment referred to the company failing to listen in the past.

"Ford ... over the years has had great successes and then falls on some tough times. Sometimes you can be complacent and not listen," he said, adding that he told dealers his management team would give them an entire portfolio of cars and trucks that will sell.

Paul Gaudet Sr., a dealer from Tilton, N.H., said Ford in the past tried to tell dealers how to sell cars but now seems a "little more humble."

He said he is confident that the company will cut expenses and roll out the products dealers need to sell and eventually save the 103-year-old automaker.

At the Chrysler meeting, things got a little testy with dealers complaining about the company producing more trucks than the market would bear last year and forcing dealers to take them.

Dealer Steve Miller of Vestal, N.Y., said he was happy with the response on inventory and the direction of the company given by LaSorda and other managers on the stage. But there were some issues that weren't fully addressed, he said.

"There's a couple of glitches in the armor of the people on stage," he said. "They still don't kind of get it."

Miller said the executives gave their opinions on what customers think of warranties, rather than asking dealers what they hear from customers.

He also said dealers are having trouble getting the Dodge Caliber and have been told the small SUV has been selling well in other countries.

"That's not the answer that you wanted to hear. It doesn't help us much," Miller said.

Mike Manley, vice president for sales and dealer operations at DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, said LaSorda has told managers to try to speed up Caliber production.

Manley said the popularity of the car overseas is a good problem for Chrysler. "Not that I want demand to drop off, but hopefully we'll see the supply improve to our dealers."

The Ford and Chrysler meetings lasted more than 90 minutes. Across the hall from Chrysler, the meeting for Honda Motor Co., which reported sales up 3.2 percent last year, lasted only 45 minutes with few questions, said Scott Casebeer, owner of a group of dealerships in Salem, Ore.

"I kind of like a little bit more controversy in these things. But it was one question and out," he said.