Chippewa Ford closes
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By ROD STETZER rod.stetzer@lee.net
Tuesday, September 18, 2007 10:28 AM CDT
Michael Weigand’s family sold Fords for 63 years. He admits it tugs at his heart when he hears that Chippewa Falls Ford Lincoln Mercury, based in Lake Hallie, is closing.
The closing, announced Monday, is putting at least 40 employees out of work.
“In my opinion Ford still makes the best truck by far,” said Weigand.
His family sold the local Ford dealership in Chippewa Falls, named Weigand Ford, in 1997, and that eventually became Chippewa Falls Ford Lincoln Mercury.
But declining sales of Fords is leading the company to restructure under a program called the Way Forward.
During the first quarter, Ford’s sales in the U.S. fell 13.2 percent from the first quarter of 2006. Its market share dropped 2.3 percentage points, down to 16.4 percent.
Closing dealerships, such as Chippewa Falls Ford, is part of the restructuring plan.
“That’s what they want — just a few big dealers,” Weigand said.
As of April, there were about 4,600 Ford and Lincoln-Mercury dealerships in the nation. Ford said it is trying to cut the number of dealers to 3,000.
A competitor to Ford, the Toyota Motor Corporation, has 1,300 dealers.
Weigand said for comparison, Ford had 6,000 dealers in 1960.
Last year, automakers based in Detroit shut down 322 franchises, or 2 percent. The dealers of the Detroit brands recorded 800,000 fewer sales in 2006 than 2005. That’s about $1.2 billion less in combined gross profits for the stores.
Weigand said Ford pressured his family to move its Chippewa Falls dealership to what’s now Lake Hallie. Instead, the family sold the franchise to Darcy Fields, who built the current dealership.
“He called it Chippewa Ford,” Weigand said.
Three or four years later, Weigand said Fields sold the dealership to Ford.
Javier Sanchez is listed as the dealership’s owner. He did not return a phone call this morning. Neither did the dealership’s manager.
Under its Way Forward program, Ford is closing 14 factories and eliminating up to 44,000 hourly and salaried jobs by 2008.
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