MONROE - Jack Stenbroten didn't want to say anything until 4:30 p.m. Friday, the latest possible time for a FedEx delivery.
For dealers of General Motors vehicles Friday, the FedEx delivery person was not a welcome site. Across the country, FedEx was delivering notice to about 1,100 GM dealerships that they would be dropped by the struggling automaker by late next year.
"As of 4:30 p.m., Voegeli Chevrolet-Buick did not receive a non-renewal notification," Stenbroten said with a smile in the Monticello office. "We will continue our partnership with General Motors forward, just as we have the past 85 years."
While Stenbroten said the dealership he co-owns with his brothers Steve and Dan scored high on a list of GM criteria, "you never know" what can happen, he said.
"I had a little scare at about 10:30 this morning," Stenbroten said. "I saw the FedEx man come in, and I looked, but he didn't have anything in his hand, except his little electronic device."
General Motors Corp. sent notices to about one in every five U.S. dealerships Friday that they would not renew their franchise contracts in late 2010. While GM declined to reveal which dealers will be eliminated, it appears none of them are local.
"We're good," said Tom Dulaney, general manager of Brodhead Chevrolet, Pontiac and Buick. The Charles Dearth dealership in Monroe also did not receive a notice Friday.
No representative of Ruda Chevrolet in Monroe could speak about where its franchise stood on Friday.
The next date GM dealerships will be watching for is June 1, when the company might file bankruptcy, rendering all franchise agreements null and void.
Dulaney said he spoke with other GM dealerships late Friday morning and had not heard of any closures in the area.
"It's because we're doing a good job of selling cars, and have a good following," he said.
Dulaney in November said the dealership was expanding its inventory, services and hours.
Bryan Rach, general manager of Charles Dearth Pontiac-Buick-Cadillac-GMC Trucks in Monroe, said dealers across the region were holding their breath Friday.
"The day's not over yet," he said at 3 p.m.
The effect of the non-renewals on local dealerships was dependent upon how many dealerships were notified Friday and how far away they were from Green County, Rach said.
"We'd like to be able to draw from the around the area, but most dealerships will go unaffected," he added.
Dealerships carrying only one GM line would be the ones most likely to be affected, he said.
GM encouraged dealers to mix and match any of the three channels, Chevy, Buick-GMC and Cadillac, without great success, Rach said.
"Franchise contracts were to protect the dealers, but minimized the factories' ability to place dealerships," he said.
Depending upon the possibility of bankruptcy, the company may be able to put dealerships wherever they want, Rach said.
Rather than a true bankruptcy, Stenbroten expects a GM reorganizing bankruptcy.
Stenbroten said his father, John Stenbroten, who has been with the dealership for 55 years, was "naturally pleased" it didn't get the dreaded FedEx delivery Friday. Voegeli Chevrolet started in 1916 and was franchised in 1923.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think it'd come to this; or that the country would come to this," Jack Stenbroten said.
For dealers of General Motors vehicles Friday, the FedEx delivery person was not a welcome site. Across the country, FedEx was delivering notice to about 1,100 GM dealerships that they would be dropped by the struggling automaker by late next year.
"As of 4:30 p.m., Voegeli Chevrolet-Buick did not receive a non-renewal notification," Stenbroten said with a smile in the Monticello office. "We will continue our partnership with General Motors forward, just as we have the past 85 years."
While Stenbroten said the dealership he co-owns with his brothers Steve and Dan scored high on a list of GM criteria, "you never know" what can happen, he said.
"I had a little scare at about 10:30 this morning," Stenbroten said. "I saw the FedEx man come in, and I looked, but he didn't have anything in his hand, except his little electronic device."
General Motors Corp. sent notices to about one in every five U.S. dealerships Friday that they would not renew their franchise contracts in late 2010. While GM declined to reveal which dealers will be eliminated, it appears none of them are local.
"We're good," said Tom Dulaney, general manager of Brodhead Chevrolet, Pontiac and Buick. The Charles Dearth dealership in Monroe also did not receive a notice Friday.
No representative of Ruda Chevrolet in Monroe could speak about where its franchise stood on Friday.
The next date GM dealerships will be watching for is June 1, when the company might file bankruptcy, rendering all franchise agreements null and void.
Dulaney said he spoke with other GM dealerships late Friday morning and had not heard of any closures in the area.
"It's because we're doing a good job of selling cars, and have a good following," he said.
Dulaney in November said the dealership was expanding its inventory, services and hours.
Bryan Rach, general manager of Charles Dearth Pontiac-Buick-Cadillac-GMC Trucks in Monroe, said dealers across the region were holding their breath Friday.
"The day's not over yet," he said at 3 p.m.
The effect of the non-renewals on local dealerships was dependent upon how many dealerships were notified Friday and how far away they were from Green County, Rach said.
"We'd like to be able to draw from the around the area, but most dealerships will go unaffected," he added.
Dealerships carrying only one GM line would be the ones most likely to be affected, he said.
GM encouraged dealers to mix and match any of the three channels, Chevy, Buick-GMC and Cadillac, without great success, Rach said.
"Franchise contracts were to protect the dealers, but minimized the factories' ability to place dealerships," he said.
Depending upon the possibility of bankruptcy, the company may be able to put dealerships wherever they want, Rach said.
Rather than a true bankruptcy, Stenbroten expects a GM reorganizing bankruptcy.
Stenbroten said his father, John Stenbroten, who has been with the dealership for 55 years, was "naturally pleased" it didn't get the dreaded FedEx delivery Friday. Voegeli Chevrolet started in 1916 and was franchised in 1923.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think it'd come to this; or that the country would come to this," Jack Stenbroten said.