Despite News Of Bankruptcy, Jersey's G-M Dealerships say They're Here to Stay

News of General Motors impending bankruptcy isn't intimidating its strongest performing New Jersey dealerships. In fact, facilities like the Toms River-based Lester Glenn Automotive Group says G-M's going to be around a long time to come and so are they.

Lester Glenn General Manager Adam Krashaurer says the economic downturn forced them to do some belt-tightenting by reducing about 20-percent of its staff but he says customers will still find a great selection of Buick, Pontiac and G-M-C vehicles as well as some of the most finely trained technicians on site to work on them.

Krashaurer says, "the product itself is not the problem. They have some really nice cars, beautiful cars, well made cars. The issue has been some of the costs associated with building those cars and some of the legacy costs." He says, "in going forward, we will continue to represent and sell vehicles that are cutting edge in terms of design and quality and we will see a greater focus on fuel economy and emissions standards."

The recent announcement of G-M's bankruptcy actually brings some relief to Tim Dunn, owner of T&T coast Buick/Pontiac/G-M-C in Seagirt. Who says despite the economic crises, they continue to be the top selling G-M Dealer in Monmouth and Ocean County's for three years. He says, now the media can move away from months of searing bad financial news and focus on the automotive giants stronger future.

Dunn says his customer's have had no problems in getting parts and service for the Oldsmobile line and that was discontinued in 2000. He adds, Pontiac's will also continue to be manufactured until 2010 and he says all warranty's and extended warranty's will be honored by the company. He says, "what I tell people is to check out the car. I've been with G-M for twenty five years. What we offer, the quality of what you get, is the best I've seen in the twenty five years."

While Dunn agrees the company will be focusing more toward manufacturing more fuel efficient cars and trucks, he says "I do still think that you gotta build cars that people want, attractive cars, maybe in my case, with a family and everything else, I'll want my room and will sacrifice some gas for the room because to move six or seven people around you'll need two fuel efficient cars."

By: Rosetta Key