Chrysler to sell gorgeous Motor Village LA dealership due to controversy

When the Motor Village opened last November on the night before the LA Auto Show opened, it was an incredible event packed full of celebrities, LA socialites and Chrysler execs including Sergio Marchionne. The evening offered attendees a chance to wander through the multi-level dealership featuring new models and brand-specific boutiques throughout, showing the Motor Village is truly a car dealership like no other. However, when speaking with a handful of LA residents familiar with the automotive scene, not everyone was so happy about the opening of the Motor Village.

It turns out that there is a California law that prohibits an automaker from owning/operating a dealership within ten miles of other similarly branded dealerships and in this case, the Motor Village is within that range of several Chrysler-branded dealerships. Because of this, the California New Car Dealers Association filed a complaint with the California Department of Motor Vehicles and based on their findings, Chrysler will have to attend a meeting on September 27th as they face charges of violating the aforementioned location rule. Needless to say, Chrysler hopes to avoid the charges posed against them so they have worked out the details to sell the massive dealership to New Century Automotive Group. New Century currently owns and operates six dealerships in Southern California but none of them are Chrysler branded, as the group will add the Motor Village to its 3 VW franchises along with their BMW, Mini, and Infiniti dealerships.

The problem is it stands is that Chrysler still technically owns the actual Motor Village property, including the land and building. New Century Automotive Group is only buying the business with the intention of renting the property as the cost of this parcel of land in Los Angeles is extremely high. Hopefully, Chrysler washing their hands of the business end of the Motor Village dealership will alleviate them of the charges by the state but some of the complainants have question whether Chrysler (in this case, Chrysler’s Reality division) should be allowed to own the dealership at all.

In any case, it appears as though the beauty that is the LA Motor Village will be able to live on under the direction of Dennis Lin and his New Century Automotive Group. On the right is a look at the massive tower that stands alongside highway 110 with a glass wall showing the new models and a large lighted sign proudly displaying the different Chrysler Group brands.

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