Don’t Bury Us Just Yet, Olds Dealers Proclaim
Claiming that news of their death has been greatly exaggerated, Oldsmobile dealers in the Southland tried to wheel and deal pretty much as usual on Friday. But the negative news was causing concern.
Published reports this week, indicating that General Motors may eliminate or consolidate its Oldsmobile division, were denied by the company on Thursday. But speculation persists, and that could discourage prospective Olds buyers by fueling doubts about whether GM will provide adequate parts, support and service in the future.
“It has affected the morale of my people,” said one Los Angeles dealer, who did not wish to be named. “People who are buying cars are buying because they need to and not because they want to. One little bit of bad news about one will send them off someplace else and you never see them again.”
But while some Southern California Olds dealers admitted to some anxiety and the possibility of lost sales, many echoed the sentiments of one dealer, who said, “Don’t bury us yet.”
“All the info we have, from the L.A. zone headquarters and from Detroit, is that we are alive and well and are going forward,” said Dennis Leon, sales manager at Hardin Oldsmobile-GMC-Suzuki in Anaheim.
“We have had some questions from customers, but we have assured them that all is well,” Leon said. “Oldsmobile is modernizing the division and there’s no reason I know of that we won’t be around. All we need is more product so we can sell.”
“You can put the rumors to bed,” said Ken Koors, Oldsmobile general sales manager at Thousand Oaks-based Nesen Motor Co., which also sells Cadillac, Hyundai, Subaru, Lexus, Infiniti and Acura cars. “We haven’t felt anything yet, and I hope we don’t.”
But at a Laguna Niguel dealership, the rumors sparked questions and apparently drove away at least one customer.
One of the first shoppers Thursday morning at Allen Oldsmobile-Cadillac-GMC Truck-Saab expressed doubts about the wisdom of buying an Oldsmobile if the division were in trouble, said sales manager Scott Allen. “And we hadn’t heard anything about it yet so we couldn’t defend against what he’d heard and he left.”
By midmorning, however, Oldsmobile division General Manager John Rock was assuring dealers via a televised conference from Detroit that “Olds had been around for 95 years and would be here for another 95 years,” Allen said.
Ultimately, the rumors did no damage, Allen said.
“We sold three Olds yesterday, and that’s a pretty good Thursday,” he said.
Still, it is difficult to know about sales you didn’t make especially when “in this economy, they’re not knocking anybody’s doors down,” said Jeff Hirschfeld, sales manager at Pioneer Oldsmobile in North Hollywood, which also sells Subaru and Hyundai cars.
Steve Auth’s family has been selling Oldsmobiles at its downtown Los Angeles Kaiser Bros. dealership since 1917. He acknowledged that the Oldsmobile rumors are “demoralizing.” But, he added, “I’m not looking for a job.”
Few customers have heard the reports, and for those who have, “we have an immediate response that this isn’t going to happen. We’re certainly going to be here to serve customers in the future,” Auth said.
Robert Gerometta was not surprised by the questions surrounding Oldsmobile. The Chicago car enthusiast owns five aging Oldsmobiles, but for regular driving he bought a Ford.
“Those of us who have owned Oldsmobiles in the past are kind of sad about this,” Gerometta said. “But I think GM is totally out of touch with the people they want to sell cars to.”
