Marsh regains Chrysler Jeep dealership

Jim Marsh, a longtime local car dealer, is less than a month away from holding the keys to a Chrysler Jeep dealership — a label he lost during the Great Recession.

Marsh’s Chrysler Jeep was one of nearly 800 dealerships cut by Chrysler LLC in 2009 after the car manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Chrysler canceled the franchise agreements with Marsh and three other dealerships in Las Vegas at that time — United Dodge, United Chrysler Jeep and Integrity Chrysler.

After winning a legal battle with Chrysler, one that reached as far as the U.S. Supreme Court, Marsh is back on track.

His new 33,000-square-foot dealership is under construction just west of his Kia dealership at 8555 W. Centennial Center Parkway.

Marsh said he expects the facility to have a soft opening Jan. 1, with a grand opening sometime in February. That date hasn’t been established yet, he said.

Marsh originally planned for the new facility to house his Kia brand, which he claims helped him survive the recession.

“Fortunately, we picked up the Kia dealership,” he said. “That’s been a lifesaver.”

The new facility, which Marsh estimated was about a $7.5 million investment, is going to house about 200 new vehicles to start off.

On average, his Kia dealership houses about 350 vehicles, he said.

The new dealership also will house a high-tech service department with the latest equipment and an express oil change and lube station.

“We are capable of servicing and performing warranty work on the Chrysler line, including Dodge and Fiat, in addition to Chrysler and Jeep,” Marsh said.

Marsh also plans to add about 35 employees to operate the new franchise.

All this expands Marsh’s car empire that sits on about 18 acres. Marsh initially owned about 33 acres in the area but sold some of it off over the years to commercial developers.

Despite selling off some land holdings, there is something to note at Marsh’s Kia franchise. The Kia dealership houses the largest body shop in the Western region, with a 50,000-square-foot footprint and does more than $1 million a month in service work, said Marsh.

When Marsh opens his doors to the Chrysler Jeep dealership in January, things won’t be the same as they were before in the Las Vegas market. For one, there will be a few extra players that weren’t there before.

“There was four (dealerships) originally; now there’s six — two more than any other franchise,” said Marsh. “It will be a lot of competition.”

Yet, he noted that the new Skye Canyon development near Fort Apache Road and U.S. Highway 95 could lend a hand on future growth for the dealership. About 9,000 single-family homes are planned in the master-planned community.

“We think that’s going to give us a shot in the arm, as they develop that,” he said.

However, proximity isn’t always a key factor in auto sales these days. Marsh said about 90 percent of his sales start out with customers searching on the internet.

“People still like to sit in the car and feel the car, and most of them do,” said Marsh. “But before they get to that point, they like to go on there and shop and read about the products.”

In addition, Marsh pointed to appraising the value of a trade-in and the financing process as two reasons customers come to the dealership.

“You’ve got to sit down with the people and get a credit app filled out and submit it to the banks,” he said.

Marsh has had a long history in Nevada. His first dealership in Las Vegas was at Fremont and 17th streets, where he bought an American Motors Corp. and Jeep dealership in 1971 upon arrival from Washington state. He also owns several gaming properties throughout Nevada, including the Longstreet Inn in Amargosa Valley and the Skyline in Henderson.

In his fight to bring back the Chrysler dealership, Marsh joined a lawsuit in 2010, along with about a handful of other dealership owners from across the country that had their franchise canceled by Chrysler.

“They (Chrysler) canceled 789 dealers total, nationwide,” said Marsh. “Of the 789 dealers, there were only four of us that regained our franchise — myself and three dealers in Detroit.”

Marsh won back the right to reopen his dealership under a ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Ohio in January 2015.

The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Chrysler, now known as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, in June 2015. Fiat, the Italian automaker, began acquiring Chrysler in pieces in 2009, following the American car manufacturer’s bankruptcy filing.