Chrysler to Cancel Nine St. Louis Area Dealer Agreements; Dealers’ Fate Now Lies with Fiat

As a part of its bankruptcy filing on May 14, Chrysler LLC asked court permission to cancel 789 auto dealership agreements, nine of which are located in the St. Louis metropolitan area. These dealerships are targeted to be eliminated by June 9. Ultimately, though, Fiat, not Chrysler, will make the final decision as to which dealerships will be brought along to the new company formed during the bankruptcy process. Nothing is final until the bankruptcy judge signs off on the filing and Chrysler’s national dealer council has filed a motion in defense of the 789 targeted dealerships. If you are a Chrysler dealer and a participant in the bankruptcy legal effort (or would like to be), click here to access a secure website with up-to-date information on bankruptcy proceedings.

Valvoline Lowers Lubricant Prices for Saint Louis Auto Dealers Association Members—You Won’t Be Able to Pass This Up!

In the midst of tumultuous times for dealers everywhere, cutting costs becomes a top priority in every area of a dealership. Valvoline not only wants to help you save money on lubricants and chemicals, they also want to help you increase service department traffic and customer retention. More importantly, they want to become a dedicated partner in making your service department a profitable aspect of your dealership. That is why they are offering further discounts to SLADA members. You won’t believe these new prices until you see them. For a pricing sheet, please contact Katie Heineman at (314) 822-0333 or kheineman@stlautos.com.

Six Pitfalls to Avoid in Employee Termination

Unfortunately, in difficult economic times, dealerships everywhere are looking to cut costs to help protect their businesses. This can potentially lead to cutbacks in labor, which can always make a dealership vulnerable to employee lawsuits from those who are laid off. There are certain things that you can do to help protect yourself from a potential lawsuit that may be filed by a terminated employee. Click here to read six things to avoid when terminating employees.

FTC Extends Red Flags Rule Enforcement Deadline to August 1, 2009

On the eve of the new May 1, 2009 deadline, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it will delay enforcement of the Red Flags Rule until August 1, 2009 to give financial institutions and creditors more time to develop and implement written Identity Theft Prevention Programs (ITPP). The FTC had previously extended the compliance deadline from November 1, 2008 to May 1, 2009. This delay applies to all entities subject to the enforcement authority of the FTC, including all automobile dealers. The FTC also announced that it would soon release a template to help certain entities comply with the Red Flags Rule. Please note that this deadline revision does not affect the deadline for compliance with the Address Discrepancy Rule, which was November 1, 2008. For compliance solutions, click here.

Secure the Future of Your Business

When it comes to your business, hoping for the best won’t ensure its future. What would happen to your business and your family should you become disabled or die unexpectedly? Do you have key employees or family members who could step in and run the company in your absence? It is essential to the future of your business and your family to have a succession strategy in place. Click here to read the entire article about how to ensure your business is protected from unexpected instances.

Are you Tired of All the Time (and Paperwork) Consumed by Your In-House Benefits Enrollment Process?

Take advantage of an exclusive voluntary benefits program offered by Unum and they, in conjunction with benefit enrollment firm NRoll, will enroll ALL of your employee benefits (voluntary and employee-paid) for you…FREE! Utilizing their unique, state-of-the-art online enrollment system, NRoll will relieve you from the stress of collecting accurate benefit enrollment paperwork from all of your employees once a year and when a new employee is hired. All you have to do is offer one or more of Unum’s benefits to your employees, which costs nothing to you or your dealership. Call Katie Heineman at (314) 822-0333 today to find out how you can start saving time and money now. Click here for more information about Unum benefits.

St. Louis Auto Outlook

The St. Louis Auto Outlook is filled with valuable, objective information on the metro area's new retail automotive market that can't be found anywhere else. The St. Louis Auto Outlook tracks monthly vehicle registrations in the greater St. Louis metro area. Click here to see the latest monthly report.

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