01/19/07

• Message From The President
• From the Desk of Jim Simpson
• E-commerce hits all-time high in 2006
• GM No. 1 spot at risk
• Fitness Center update
• Hahn Auto Group general manager gets 3 years for embezzling millions

Message From The President
Tom LaSorda, DaimlerChrysler CEO, personally called to congratulate and thank me and our entire team of associates on our record sales performance for 2006. We delivered 4442 new units, an all time record. Congratulations, We are the 6th largest DaimlerChrysler dealer in the WORLD! Right here in Richmond, Michigan. pop. 4897. When you add our used car sales in, that is about one for every person who lives in Richmond.
That is the first time in our 29 year history that any officer of the corporation ever took the time to call and thank us. Tom LaSorda you're a class act!
Dick Huvaere

From the Desk of Jim Simpson
At the start of a new year we should pause to evaluate 2006. It was one of the most challenging years in all of my experience. That feeling was echoed by Mr. Huvaere also. Our fate was somewhat controlled by the actions of The Chrysler Corporation. It was a rough year for them and that overflowed and affected our progress as well.
When all is said and done we have some things to be proud of. We sold and delivered 4442 new cars and trucks in 2007. That put us number 4 in our business center and number 6 in the entire country. This accomplishment in such a tough business environment is amazing.
More importantly, 2006 saw us come together as a company. The turnover we experienced in prior years was cut down substantially. Our management staff solidified and is now in place for the long term. We managed to eak out a small profit for the year, a thing many dealers can not say.
We are now in a position to enjoy some of the benefits of all the hard work we have done over the past three years. Our construction is all complete. The new computer and phone systems are in place and operating at a good level. Our inventories of cars, trucks and parts are in line. The collision shop is moved and operating at almost full capacity. We will spend 2007 tweaking our departments and systems to achieve the best productivity possible. It should be a great year for Richmond Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep and all of us as well.
Thank you for all of the hard work in 2006 and let's enjoy 2007.
Jim Simpson

E-commerce hits all-time high in 2006
One look at the online revenue figures for 2006 led to a simple conclusion for the experts who track these things. E-commerce is for real ? and it is going to just keep growing. Almost anyone who sells anything should be selling (at least part of what they sell) online, emarketer.com reports this week.
E-commerce revenues reached $102.1 billion in 2006, according to comScore, a 24 percent increase over 2005. Holiday sales made the point, emphatically. Most researchers who track the retail industry in the U.S. put overall 2006 holiday sales at between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent above last year, the slowest pace of growth in two years, blaming the lackluster season on weather, falling home prices and rising energy costs.
Online sales were the exception to the rule.  According to comScore Networks, online sales for 12 days during the November/December holiday season surpassed the $600 million mark ? each day.

GM No. 1 spot at risk
He's not conceding the race, but Rick Wagoner seems ready to accept that General Motors Corp. may lose its ranking as the world's largest automaker. With Toyota Motor Corp. expecting to sell 9.3 million vehicles this year, GM is in danger of falling from the No. 1 position for the first time in 75 years. Wagoner, GM's chairman and chief executive, said Thursday that GM sold 9.1 million vehicles last year, but the automaker will not chase unprofitable sales volumes just to stay in first place, The Detroit News reports today. Meanwhile, Ford Motor Co. managed to hold off  Toyota as the No. 2 U.S. vehicle seller in December despite a nearly 13 percent sales drop compared with a year ago. Industry leader General Motors reported a 13 percent December sales decline. Ford sold 231,900 light vehicles in December, with Toyota coming in just below the Dearborn-based automaker at 228,322, but Toyota's sales for the month rose more than 12 percent versus a year ago.

Fitness Center Update
The fitness center is seeing a lot more use. We are now adding touchpad locks to the doors so that users may access the facilities much easier. New locks should be in place by the time you read this.

Hahn Auto Group general manager gets 3 years for embezzling millions
A former general manager for an automobile dealership group was sentenced to at least three years in prison for embezzling more than $1 million. William Joseph McGrath, 43, pleaded no contest to three counts of embezzlement of more than $20,000 from the Hahn Auto Group, which has dealerships in Pontiac, Waterford Township and Royal Oak. On Tuesday, Oakland County Circuit Judge Colleen O?Brien rejected a defense request for a year or less in jail and sentenced McGrath of Rochester Hills to 3-to-10 years in prison. The judge also ordered McGrath to pay back $1.3 million in restitution, though prosecutors asked for more. Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Rob Novy said a forensic audit of the business showed that nearly $3 million may have been taken, though some of it was from so long ago that it could not be adequately accounted for. He said officials could prove that $1.3 million was taken.
He said that from 1999 to 2000, about $400,000 was taken and from 2001 to 2005 just under $1.1 million was taken. However, he said, auditors were unable to reconcile a total of $2.7 million. ?It?s going back so far, they couldn?t find records,? Novy said. ?He had access to cash and the accounting.?
Defense attorney Jerome Sabbota challenged the allegations that $2.7 million was taken, arguing against any more restitution than $1.3 million, which was the amount McGrath accepted in pleading no contest. Sabbota said McGrath cannot even pay back the $1.3 million. ?He?s sorry for any trouble or hardship he caused his employer,? Sabbota said. ?He is sorry for his family and his daughter.? Novy said McGrath?s method exploited a company that operated like a small family business but did a large volume of sales. McGrath forged checks that were to go between the dealers, and set up payable accounts that were zeroed out at the end of the year, going to McGrath, Novy said. The former general manager also profited from rebate checks. ?He was making up fictitious customers for rebate checks,? Novy said. ?(The money) went in his own pocket eventually. They?re so small a company. They put this guy in a position of trust. They trusted him and he betrayed that trust.?
The dealerships include Village Chrysler Jeep in Royal Oak, Auburn Pontiac in Pontiac and Quality Pontiac in Waterford Township.
As to the why, neither Novy nor Sabbota could answer that specifically. McGrath told the judge he started to live the high life and did not realize the amount of money he was taking, Sabbota said.
Novy could only speculate that McGrath lived beyond his means with a $2,500-a-month mortgage and three cars. While Sabbota is hopeful that McGrath, a nonviolent offender, can get an early parole, Novy appreciated that a jury did not have to endure figuring out the financial inner workings of a complicated business. ?It was probably one of the hardest cases I?ve worked on,? said Novy, who has successfully prosecuted numerous murder cases with scant evidence.

Today's Motivational Quote
"Truth is generally the best vindication against slander."
Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)