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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, May 14, 2009

Maui to lose lone Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep dealership

Advertiser Staff

Maui will lose its only Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep dealership under a plan submitted by Chrysler LLC to a bankruptcy court asking that 789 of its about 3,200 dealership agreements be rescinded.

Moreover, it may not be the only dealership locally to lose its tie with an automaker as General Motors Corp. looks to notify up to 1,200 U.S. dealers shortly that their franchises won’t be renewed.
Chrysler today submitted a list to court of dealerships it wanted to cut off that included Island Dodge in Kahului, but as of late yesterday the dealership had not heard anything from the financially strapped car maker.
It learned of its fate by seeing it named on lists available on the Internet. Jim Wheeler, General Sales Manager, said Chrysler was supposed to notify dealerships through overnight letters, but because such deliveries take two days to reach Hawaiçi it had not received anything as of late yesterday.
“We learned about who was on the list at the same time the public did,” said Roy Kitagawa, president of Kitagawa Motors Inc., in a company statement.
“Obviously, those who were part of Chrysler’s decision-making process did not realize or appreciate the fact that we are on an island which is separate from the rest of the state.”