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FacebookBill Heard closes 13 dealerships, including Vegas locations
Published Wed, Sep 24, 2008 (2:59 p.m.)
Updated Wed, Sep 24, 2008 (4:33 p.m.)
“Mr. Big Volume” is now Mr. No Volume.
Bill Heard Chevrolet and its sister Chevy dealership in Las Vegas closed their doors, along with 11 other dealerships across the country.
In a statement released Wednesday, Bill Heard Enterprises says the closures will affect about 2,700 employees nationwide.
The statement says the company didn't have the resources to continue operating. It cites factors including rising fuel prices, an inventory dominated by trucks and SUVs, economic recession, unfavorable market conditions and the current banking and financial crises.
The Columbus, Ga.-based company had five dealerships in Georgia and nine in six other states – Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Tennessee and Texas. The Arizona dealership closed two weeks ago.
Calls to the Las Vegas Bill Heard Chevrolet location at 444 South Decatur went unanswered. "No one is available to take your call right now and we'll get back to you as soon as we can," a recording said each time.
Calls to the Vista Chevrolet location at 5501 Drexel Road in northwest Las Vegas went to a voicemail box.
The closed Bill Heard Enterprises dealerships were two of the valley’s five Chevy dealers. The remaining dealers are Findlay Chevrolet, in the southwest valley near the Las Vegas Beltway at 6800 S. Torrey Pines Drive; Fairway Chevrolet at 3100 E. Sahara Ave.; and Henderson Chevrolet (in the Valley Auto Mall) at 240 N. Gibson Road in Henderson.
A spokesman for Findlay Chevrolet said the dealership will be ramping up its service operations given the Bill Heard and Vista closures, opening additional service bays and hiring additional technicians to take care of customers who used to rely on the closed dealerships.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Discussion: 11 comments so far…
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Bill Heard says:
"It cites factors including rising fuel prices, an inventory dominated by trucks and SUVs, economic recession, unfavorable market conditions and the current banking and financial crises"
On TV last night they also blame Chevy for having bad products.
So it is someone else's fault that Heard has so many trucks and SUV's in inventory. What crap.
I wonder what the folks at Towbin Hummer are thinking?
Also, I just hope that the former employees can get jobs at other dealerships or service garages. This whole story is about what they have to look forward to. Many commented that they had NO KNOWLEDGE until they were fired yesterday that the company was sleezy.
They lost their GMAC financing! No one else would finance them. Plus, the AG's had the most complaints against the car dealerships in their histories. GMAC finally did something right.
When are these companies going to give us the same quality high mpg cars that the europeans drive instead of the poorly made gas guzzlers no one wants.
I feel sorry in general for anyone who loses their job but to be honest it's kinda hard to feel sorry for a 'car saleman' losing his job, which is basically to screw car buyers at every turn.
I agree with azsk8fan. Car dealerships are scam artists and crooks. I recently went to Vista Chevy and the sales manager was practically down my throught to buy a car that I didn't like in the first place.
-Hingreed
Rydell Auto Group will be picking up the best of the lot. www.rydellautogroup.com GM comes to them to take over dealerships all over the country.
I also have a hard time feeling sorry for car salesman who lose their jobs... I have had bad experiences in the past and those guys are just relentless to a point they then become aggressive. They can get jobs at other places...
My last experience was with carmax and I will not go anywhere else in the future...
I agree let em all rot. I'm fine with my current ride and I'll drive it into the ground, I always feel like I'm being ripped off by those car salesmen jerks, esp for the american dealerships, so not sad to see them go bankrupt. They deserved it after selling crap cars no one wants for years. The writing was on the wall.
Dont you just love karma?...
I have purchased automobiles at this location since it was Fletcher Jones. The Bill Heard organization was run by thugs, liars and thieves. I only hope Nevada's lazy incomincompetent attorney general will pursue the claims of victims of this group of thugs