Country Chevrolet to close

WARWICK — Frank Petrucci, owner of Warwick’s Country Chevrolet located at 93 Main St., just announced that the dealership, which has been in his family for more than 30 years, will cease all operations on Friday, Jan. 4.

Healey Chevrolet in Middletown will assume the responsibility for sales, parts and warranty or general service in this area.

The sudden closing, however, was not according to plan.

Petrucci did want to move on for personal reasons but he also wanted to leave Country Chevrolet still operating and in strong hands.

He had been in contract to sell the agency to Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Warwick. That company would have continued selling and servicing Chevrolet products, kept employees and generally maintained the status quo. And the people of Warwick would still have the same convenience and most likely be dealing with the same faces.

“It caught me by surprise,” said Petrucci. “This all happened at the eleventh hour.”

Manufacturer’s approval

He explained that all franchised dealerships require approval from the manufacturer before they can be sold. And the sale to Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Warwick met al the manufacturer’s requirements and had that authorization.

However, General Motors also had the right of first refusal, a legally binding clause in its franchise agreement that would give the firm the right to make the same purchase under the exact same terms.

And that’s what it did.

“All they had to do was take the same contract, erase Warwick Dodge, and put their name in as the buyer,” said Petrucci. “And there was nothing we could do to stop that.”

General Motors has no intention of keeping the doors to Country Chevrolet open. It has been the company’s policy to reduce the number of dealers since the government organized bankruptcy in 2009 when it refused to renew franchise agreements with over one quarter of its dealerships.

Country Chevrolet, however, was not part of that first purge because it had always received high marks for its number of sales and record of customer satisfaction.

Two franchises remain

“I’m disappointed,” said Mike Annunziata, co-owner of Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Warwick. “But it was General Motors’ decision and they acted in their best interest.”

Nevertheless, Warwick will now have only two franchised dealerships, Leo Kaytes Ford and Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Warwick. And the Chevrolet dealership established by Silvio Petrucci, who passed away in 1999, along with the presence of any Chevrolet agency in Warwick, going back to the 1930s, will be history.

For the time being, Country Chevrolet will be a vacant property, still owned by the Petrucci family but leased to General Motors.

“I had not envisioned this to turn out this way,” said Petrucci. “Our intention was to turn our dealership over to another local dealer who would continue to operate it in the same way. Many of our customers are people who always shop locally for everything and very often they alternated their car purchases among the three local dealers. Some would say, ‘I’m buying a Ford or a Dodge this year but next time it’s your turn, Frank.’ Now they won’t have that option in Warwick.”



By Roger Gavan