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Chrysler has lost 240 dealers this year to bankruptcy because Chrysler Financial has not been able to access TARP funds to use for providing dealers with floor plan financing, according to Chrysler CEO and Chairman Bob Nardelli's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee this morning. Another 250 dealers are on credit hold and are in danger of declaring bankruptcy.
The numbers of dealers in trouble have accelerated in the last couple of months. In late September, Chrysler vice president Steven Landry told me he had a folder on his desk he refers to as his "SOS" folder. It included files of 75 dealerships close to going out of business.
