Mexican-American Dealer Closes 2 Pennsylvania Stores

One of the largest dealer groups owned by a Mexican-American has closed its northeastern Pennsylvania Chevrolet and Dodge stores because of lagging sales.

William Rosado, 49, still has seven stores left in his group, but its revenues have fallen 40% since last year and he has whittled his work force from 380 employees to 230.

“I did not see the federal government coming out with anything that was going to turn the Wilkes-Barre or Scranton markets around quickly,” says Rosado. “So I chose to bite the bullet and shutter the two stores that relied heavily on trucks and SUVs.”

On the way towards closing the Dodge and Chevy stores, Rosado auctioned off his SUVs and trucks at “substantial” losses.

Rosado came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 15. He is hopeful that government support of the auto industry will help turn around his remaining stores.