Champion Audi & Porsche bankrupt

Huh - they owe Porsche for like, 2 cars? They have how many in inventory?

 

nothing but positive experience with Champion... they sold me 2 twin turbos over the years and have been a class act.... ill get the inside from Paul tomorrow.

 

I also heard the news, sorry to hear this. Champion has always been very fair to me as well.

 

You have to understand how some of those manufacturers work. While you have buyers they keep the inventory away from you. When customers dry up, they dump their inventory on your lot and automatically start your credit line. One morning a truck with 8 Porsche shows up and is being unloaded. If you want to keep your franchise you better take them.
Since Porsche started selling out their name to mass produced status 10 years ago it no longer holds value as a used car. So more and more cars come off leases and are worth less than residual value. Dealers take them in from Porsche Financial. At the same time they try to sell their own customers new cars that they have on their lot taking in trades from high value that they then have to discount, hence the profit margin is super slim. You are doing a $100,000 deal and net $1500, pay the salesman and you are in the hole.
Being the biggest is good in good times, being the biggest in bad times is....chapter 11.

I hope they can come back from this. One dealer that has an excellent reputation and deserves to survive and continue. All the best to Champion and its management.

 

That's terrible!

My son practically grew up in that showroom. I would bring him there every saturday morning to look at the cars from age 2 to 4. They are a great bunch of people who always made you feel welcome.

I'm ready for some good economic news for a "change". Whatever or whoever, something needs to be done.

 

Business Model of the 1800-1900's...... Buy only what you can afford, pay your debts.

Business Model of the 2000's..... Buy stuff you can't afford using credit, f'k your debtors and blame someone else when it doesn't work out.

 

Good synopsis of Porsche dealership trials and tribulations.

The issue of pricing new v.s. used exactly as you put it. From the Buyer's standpoint, having or getting an extended warranty and knowing the break-in period usage are the only things that make a good used buy difficult. If you can get your hands around these two items, there is no really good reason to buy knew.

The inventory of solid used car buys in nearly every Porsche 9xx class further weakens the Porsche new car market. Porsche Financial isn't bending over and taking it up the rump for the Dealers either.

 

I have been in there twice in the last 6 weeks to look at manual 997 TT's with FLY YELLOW (John V). The last time was the day the Chapter 11 filing hit the newspapers. I thought perhaps they would be receptive to a favorable deal, considering their situation. The place was deserted at 4:30 pm Saturday afternoon (TONS of inventory including a new 2009 GT3 Cup car for $199K), and we waited over 25 min. for our sales man to make time for us. They closed at 5pm that day. When he finally showed up he continuously tried to reassure me regarding the bankruptcy "we're the largest, we're the best, the owners Dad passed away, blah, blah, blah." He already knew I was interested in one of the several low mile turbo cars. However, all he did was try to steer me into a new PDK 911 Carrera, telling me how impressed I'll be and how my Z06 is a "kid's car." I am thinking WTF? He took a week and a half to get back with me and only sent info on cars he knew I wasn't considering.

I figured they made more $ on the used cars, and when your business is hurting a profitable sale is still a sale. I was pretty much wrong.

 

That's interesting, I have been in or by several Porsche dealerships in the SE USA and everyone of them had a GT3 Cup lol.

5PM on a Saturday? Hm, that's not good news.

Not necessarily. Could have been how that salesman is commissioned. I'm in the Ft. Myers/Naples area, they commission salesmen differently and that changes regularly as well.

Everyone is sitting on depreciated inventory. To keep from losing the franchise, go Chapter 11, restructure debt to your floorplan, and move on. If you have a sound business, you can still sell used cars, god knows there are plenty that do and succeed. If you don't then you failed for a reason, and Porsche may only be a part of the problem.

Careful with buying from any dealer these days. DMV Florida is on a warpath and they are holding or deferring renewals on licenses. It took a well known Naples auto family six months to get a KIA dealership okayed. Make sure that the Dealer is paying off any debt on the car if it is used especially.

 

Joe, check out AutoTrader & Cars.com........lots of preowned 997TT's for sale.

 

I wonder how much the secured creditors are owed

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflor...4/daily70.html

Pompano Beach-based Champion Motors has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The bankruptcy only affects the Porsche and Audi car dealership division of the company, which has two locations in Pompano Beach. It represents one of the largest Porsche dealerships in the world. The bankruptcy does not affect two related companies – the well-known Champion Racing sponsorship company and Champion Motorsports, which makes high-performance wheels.
In a filing Thursday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, Champion Motors said it has between $10 million and $50 million in debt and a similar range for assets.

The bankruptcy petition is filed under the name Copans Motors, doing business as Champion Motors, at 500 W. Copans Road.
“Economic times have created a slowdown,” said Bart Houston, bankruptcy attorney with Genovese Joblove & Battista in Fort Lauderdale. “We’re continuing to negotiate with our primary lender, Volkswagen Credit Inc.”

Houston said the racing sponsorship division continues to sponsor races, although Audi has cut back funding for sponsorships.
General Manager Michael A. Sciple signed the filing. A list of equity security holders filed with the petition said Devindar Maraj owns 100 percent of stock.

Volkswagen Credit’s claim is not listed in the bankruptcy filings yet; its loans are secured by cars and property, Houston said.
A list of unsecured creditors said the largest unsecured claim is Porsche Cars North America of Atlanta, with a claim of $153,608. Other creditors include South Dade Automotive of Miami, with a claim of $15,990, and Auto Salon 2000, with a claim of $7,800.

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I have heard as many as 2,500 dealers will close due to financial failure in 2009 alone.

 

Between 10 and 50 million in debt??!!!!!! That's a pretty big range!!!!!!!

 

I think that when you file 11 you are entered into categories such as between X and Y debt.

 

Gator, I'm a P-Car fan having owned several. Don't let a bad dealership experience dictate your thinking. I'm on the West Coast/FL and can tell you that they are hurting big time and don't, for the most part, treat their customers anything like that.

Their arrogant days are over.

 

in late 2005 i went there for a CGT they had on the floor...salesman said it was available..manager said sold..(was silver, so no biggie)..manager suggested i order one..or perhaps one of the cars already in mid build, would work for me. Sure enough, a red/black with red piping was about 2 weeks away from being shipped. I GRABBED it. Put 20k on my cc and walked out skipping and singing. (2 weeks from being shipped..10 days on water..a few more days delivered to dealership..i'd have the car in about 30 days) I stopped back in during week 3..(i hadda stop in, because i coudlnt get a straight answer from the manager on the phone) to inquire how we were doing...as per manager, the car at the vERY least..should be on the water...he couldnt confirm that it was...i thought something was fishy..but what the heck..he walked me into maraj's (the little stud muffin) office...he introduced himself to me..showed me pics of his fleet of lears..blah blah..."the car is on the water, will be at my dealership in about 7-10 days"..fair enough..thank you sir..pleasure to meet you...3 weeks later...no calls..nothing...now we are into week 6..and the car is not on the ground??..i'm okay with a few delays..just gimme info/news...i stop by the dealership..walk into marajs office and said hey...can i get a minute of your time..he says sure...i said..ok, where is my car..can u confirm when you will be recieving it..you told me 3 weeks ago...7-10 days..and i;m anxious for it..can u please check what the status is...out of nowhere he says..i cant do that..say what?? u own the place ..you're the largest dealer, blah blah..and you cant "find my car??"..he says..ya know what..i dont like that you're raising your voice(i was talking a little louder than normal, as to be expected, after being jerked around)..get out of my office...i said get out of your office?? he says get out...well..i lost it on him...he then very politley..cough cough..made me wait 45 mins for my amex card to be credited..now..it may not sound like a big deal..but living thru that..the biggest car purchase i had ever made..the excitement/anticipation...and then to be treated so nonchalantly..well..b/k couldnt have happened to a nicer guy...i figured if they were treating a guy buying a 450k car that way..how were they treating others..whatever..maraj is a dink..ruined what shudda been a great experience..walked out and called porsche in sarasota..they had a black/black on the floor..i could have it in 2 days....bam..2 days later..car is at my door.

 

Dave and I had a couple of full blown run-ins. I was handling a multi-car, new car deal, the total sales price exceeded $750K. I called him direct, we talked, he put me off to one of his Managers. I called him back said "Thanks but I want to do my deals direct through you."

He said fine, I faxed my info, get a call from the Manager again.

Twice we went through this tango, twice I left.

 

the guy is a dink..i'm sure there are hundreds of stories like that about him...the arrogance..

 

Maybe the Audi side is different, bought a total of three from them, always a good deal and treated well during service.

 

The guy I had been dealing with is Bruno. Unbelievable, some of the comments he made. Not only that but his numbers didn't jive with what I had already calculated. I wasn't low balling or looking to steal the car from them either. I can't understand dealers with attitudes like this, especially considering the cost of the cars, the level of sophistication of the clients, and the current economy. The story about the CGT for $450K above is appalling and inexcusable. My second visit with the same guy (arrived in 2 Ferraris worth as much as anything on the their lot). He still had me waiting past closing time, and I still didn't even get to see the inside of the car I wanted, let alone test drive it. What are these dealers thinking? I do not understand.