The troubled Chrysler automaker announced Thursday it will close 789 of its dealerships, including four in the Hudson Valley.
The Rallye Auto Plaza in Monroe is expected to be hit hard by Chrysler's move, losing its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep businesses. However, it will continue selling Suzuki vehicles and used cars, and its body shop and service department will remain open.
"This is going to affect a lot of people's lives that work for me," says Rallye's owner, Marc Treiber. "I have 33 employees, and you can't carry the same amount of people with a cut like this that Chrysler made."
A final decision will be rendered by a federal judge June 9. If the closure goes through, Rallye will no longer perform warranty work for customers who purchased their cars there.
"It was bought while they were still giving free oil changes for life, and it's got the full extended warranty," says Jeep owner Lajla Abrams. "If anything should happen, I don't know where we would go to have it fixed."
A Chrysler dealership located on Route 304 in Nanuet had better luck - it was spared by the closure.
"I have 60 employees of mine that at least I can have a meeting with them and say, 'we're good,'" says Livio Odoardi, the owner of Rockland Chrysler. "A lot of people can't, so it's a sad day for Chrysler."