A Central Oregon GM dealer survives cuts with solid sales and community involvement.
Gary Gruner says his Madras dealership had 17 percent sales growth from 2007 to 2008, and that it was the top-selling dealership in the Pacific Northwest according to a GM June sales report – just two of the likely reasons his location made it through cuts that could leave it as the only GM franchise in Central Oregon.
GM’s May dealer cuts helped put Dave Hamilton Chevrolet-Jeep in Redmond out of business and gave notice to Bend’s Bob Thomas Car Co. that its GM franchise agreement will expire in October 2010. Murray & Holt Motors in Bend severed its relationship with GM in February.
Chalk up the sales performance to several things, said Gruner. Farmers and ranchers buy trucks and wear them out quickly. Gruner said roughly 80 percent of his annual sales are trucks and SUVs.
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