Strom Altman followed father's Dodge-selling footsteps

For Strom Altman, the decision to stop selling new Chrysler vehicles at his North Charleston dealership was not his own.

The bankrupt automaker sent him a letter several weeks ago notifying him that his company, Strom Altman Dodge on Remount Road, was among those that no longer would be affiliated with the Detroit brand.

It was an impersonal severance, he said, given the decades of loyalty and history that his family had cultivated with Chrysler.

The relationship between the company and Strom Altman Dodge, and 788 other dealerships across the country, ended Tuesday when a bankruptcy judge approved the franchise terminations. Two other local Chrysler stores that lost their franchises are on Savannah Highway in West Ashley and on Trolley Road in Summerville. Both are owned by Hoover Automotive Group.

"It's really a shock, what they did," said Altman of Chrysler.

For now, he plans to sell used vehicles at his lot while negotiating a franchise with a manufacturer of imported cars. But switching affiliations will probably lead to a culture shock for his family.

During weekend NASCAR races, the Altmans instinctively cheer for the Dodge drivers. His 13-year-old son races a Dodge-model car that displays the company's logo.

"I've been loyal to this brand my whole life," Altman said.

Altman followed the car-selling footsteps of his father, Warren, who left his family's farm with big city aspirations and all of his possessions packed in his pickup truck. The elder Altman began selling cars at Burnside Dodge on King Street in 1968, eventually working his way up to ownership.

In 1994, Strom Altman, who had started washing cars at the company as a teenager, took the reins. He sold it briefly to a Charlotte group but reacquired the business in 2005.

He didn't think Chrysler's bankruptcy plan would include severing ties with established dealers like himself. And when that turned out to be the case, he certainly didn't think his longtime dealership would get the ax.

He said new car sales at his store have grown 20 percent since last year. Last month, he sold the most trucks of any of the 145 dealers in the Carolinas, Altman said.

Altman noted that Chrysler has portrayed the dealerships that are losing their franchisees as struggling, but he disagrees.

"That's what they're trying to make everybody believe, and that's not reality," he said.

As the automaker began to falter last year, the company asked its dealers to buy more vehicles, especially trucks, to demonstrate its viability in a market that had become highly sensitive to rising gasoline prices. Altman said he put in an order every time, taking on about 100 more vehicles during that period than he really needed.

At Strom Altman Dodge, the dealership's long history with Chrysler cars is on full display. Oldies music wafted from a radio station on its final morning as a franchisee, while gray-haired salesmen eyed the lot for customers.

By 9:30 a.m., the smell of the day's first batch of popcorn had already filled the room. Later, Altman would finalize the sale of his last 40 Chrysler vehicles to another dealership.

Though it took several weeks, Altman says he's made peace with his situation. For that, he credits support from longtime customers and from his Dorchester Road church.