Employees At Madera Chevrolet are feeling relieved after learning this dealership is one of 666 across the country to have its General Motors franchise agreement reinstated.
"A lot of good dealerships have closed up. As you drive up and down the 99 and see more and more dealerships with vacant lots it's nice when people know they have a place to come to work," said Madera Chevrolet Service Manager Lloyd Wright.
Customers are also happy to hear the news.
"I love this place, I bring my car here for all of its service, and I wouldn't have it any other way," said customer Richard Burright.
Madera Chevrolet was one of nearly 1,500 GM dealerships across the country that received termination notices last June as part of the company's government-led bankruptcy. As a result, owner Marty Mayfohrt couldn't order new GM vehicles, so customers had nothing to look at on the lot.
Madera Chevrolet General Manager Marty Mayfohrt: "It was difficult, we lost employees, we lost customers, obviously had a huge impact on sales."
Mayfohrt stayed afloat thanks to his Toyota sales, but many other GM dealerships had to shut down. And now a report by the special inspector general for the government's bailout program claims the Treasury Department made decisions about closing the dealerships without fully considering the economic fallout of thousands of lost jobs.
"Everything you see in this report that came out on the 19th, we lived through for a year," said Mayfohrt.
Mayfohrt says he's now trying to move forward by purchasing excess inventory from other local dealerships, and he recently placed his first order for 2011 Chevrolet vehicles that should start arriving soon. "We're going to be here. If it was something where we were gonna fold, we'd have been gone a year ago. And I'm too stubborn for that."
Obama administration officials disagree with the findings of the audit. They say the cuts kept the car companies from collapsing.
Marty Mayfohrt says he doesn't blame the White House or GM for this tough past year, he just disagrees how the process was carried out.
