Dealer Keeps Franchise
|  Video
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| Amanda Tetlak |
| 7/28/2009 |
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| A small town business is spared the ax. In May, General Motors announced it would cut off more than a thousand franchises across the country, several of them in North Dakota. Pfeifle Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac in Wishek is breathing a sigh of relief knowing new cars will still be coming to the lot. The Pfeifle family lives and breathes Chevrolet. That`s why owner Robert Pfeifle was pretty heartbroken when he got the letter in the mail saying GM was pulling the franchise. "We were very surprised to have gotten that because we`ve been told by GM for the last many years that we would be the dealership for the area," Pfeifle says. The third generation dealership, fourth in the making, opening in 1918, and has been a staple in the community. "In any small town, you lose a franchise dealer, it wouldn`t be hard for the next franchise to go away and you end up with you know," says Pfeifle. "So we had very good customer support and people who want to see this continue." Governor Hoeven and Senator Byron Dorgan also got involved in making a case for the dealership, saying it`s simply too important for the state to lose the franchise. "In many cases they are closing dealerships in rural areas where it is the only dealership for that brand," Dorgan says. "So they`re giving away that brands business which makes no sense to me at all." Dorgan and Pfeifle say while the reversal was a good decision, they`d like to see other rural dealerships get a second glance from GM. "A week ago I know exactly what they feel and it`s not a good feeling, to have something taken away," Pfeifle says. But for now, Pfeifle says he can look forward to taking his dealership far past its 100th anniversary. Pfeifle says if GM didn`t reverse its decision, he would have continued operation of his used car lot, but he says without new car trade-ins, that would be difficult to sustain. |
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