Layton, UT (ABC 4 News) A Layton car dealer that was terminated by Chrysler last year - has been reinstated and is about to be back in the new car business.
As part of its bankruptcy plan, Chrysler pulled the plug on 789 car dealerships last year, including 10 of the 24 dealer franchises here in Utah. Cutrubus Motors on Main Street in Layton was one of the ten. And back when it happened it was a shock to Cutrubus Motors owner Homer Cutrubus. "We thought it was a mistake and maybe they would get a hold of us and say some dealers were put on the list inadvertently or however, but that wasn't the case."
No, it wasn't wrong – Cutrubus Motors was being dropped by Chrysler. The dealership's Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler sign came down and the brakes were applied to new car deliveries. The dealership stayed open and began selling used cars.
But a couple of weeks ago Cutrubus went to arbitration to try to get reinstated with Chrysler. "We presented our case…our presence in the community our facilities, our sales.” And on Tuesday, May 25th, they won - the American Arbitration Association ordered Chrysler to reinstate the dealer. Cutrubus says, "We're thrilled to be back. We're thrilled to be part of Chrysler group again."
Winning in arbitration is quite rare. Most dealerships that are fighting are losing. In fact, Cutrubus Motors is only the third dealer in the nation to win reinstatement. Cutrubus attorney Andrew Deiss says that Chrysler has “a lot of these (cases) going on and so far there has been relatively little success on the part of the dealer." And according to the Cutrubus statement this is the first Utah case to actually win.
So, what does this mean? While the details have not been worked out - new Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler vehicles should start rolling back onto this lot fairly soon. Cutrubus hopes that happens in the next 30 days.
Cutrubus Motors has some new competition when it begins selling new Chryslers again. Back in January, the Larry H. Miller group opened a Chrysler dealership in Riverdale - just nine miles away from the Cutrubus dealership in Layton.
When the Cutrubus dealership in Layton lost its affiliation with Chrysler so did its dealership in Ogden. That dealership has an arbitration hearing set up for June 3rd.
