Former dealer exploring options

By Don Shilling

Bob Frederick II has no interest in acquiring another new car franchise.

BOARDMAN — Bob Frederick II lost his cars first and now he’s lost his interest in being a car dealer.

Frederick said Monday that he is exploring other business ventures and doesn’t intend to reopen his closed Chrysler dealership on Market Street.

He said opening a used-car dealership would be a fall-back option that he would take only if the other ventures don’t work out. He didn’t want to elaborate on his other options.

He said he has no interest in acquiring another new-car franchise because of the financial risk. The uncertainties in the industry today make borrowing money too risky, he said.

In the past, dealers relied on state franchise laws that required automakers to compensate them if car deliveries stopped. General Motors, for example, paid Oldsmobile dealers a total of $1 billion when it canceled that brand.

Recently, however, Chrysler and General Motors were able to cancel franchise agreements without such payments because they filed for bankruptcy protection. Frederick said no one knows how many more dealerships will have to be closed as the two automakers operate under the guidance of a federal task force.

“I don’t trust Obama. I don’t trust Chrysler. I don’t trust any automaker,” Frederick said.

Frederick owns the property across the street from his former dealership. The property, which used to house Chevrolet dealerships, is for sale, he said.

He had been leasing the most- recent location but was about to spend $1 million to relocate his dealership to the other property when Chrysler pulled the franchise.

He made his comments as he stopped at his former dealership to check on something. Besides Frederick’s Dodge Viper, the lot was quiet.

All of the new and used vehicles have been removed. No work was going on at the collision shop in the rear.

The Chrysler signs remain in the lot and on the building, but the letters that spelled “Frederick” on the building have been removed.

Frederick said nearly 60 people lost their jobs when the dealership closed last month.

Chrysler terminated agreements with 789 dealers or nearly 25 percent of its total nationwide as it restructured its business.

Frederick said in May that he was shocked that his franchise rights were being terminated because smaller Chrysler dealerships in Columbiana and Salem were being retained by the automaker. The closing leaves Bob & Chuck Eddy Chrysler in Austintown as the only Chrysler dealership in the immediate Youngstown area.

Frederick said his dealership met all of the criteria that Chrysler set forth, including having all three of the automaker’s brands and having a high sales volume.

shilling@vindy.com