Here are the details:

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG), an international automotive retailer, today announced the opening of its new 19,300 square foot, state-of-the-art MINI dealership in Tempe, Arizona. The new franchise, awarded by MINI, represents the company’s second MINI dealership in the Phoenix market and its fourth in the United States. MINI of Tempe is situated on a three-and-a-half acre site in the Tempe Autoplex along Interstate 10 in Tempe, Arizona. The new dealership offers floor to ceiling windows, bold colors associated with the unique image of the MINI brand, innovative product displays, and 15 service bays. The company currently estimates this dealership will generate approximately $20 million in annualized revenue in its first year of operation.

To read the rest of the press release, click here. To learn more about Penske, click here.

Auto dealers take note: the deadline to submit any pending Cash for Clunkers deals, including all paperwork, is 8:00 pm ET on Monday, August 24th.

While the program has obviously produced a lot of results in a short period of time, not all auto dealers have given Cash for Clunkers glowing reports.

For example, auto dealers in the San Francisco Bay Area have reported that despite promises from the Obama Administration that they would be reimbursed for the rebates they are giving to car buyers, there is some skepticism and fear that they could be left taking some losses.  Some dealers are still owed in the millions. From a story at MercuryNews.com:

“We haven’t received anything yet,” said Tom Young, operating partner and executive manager of Concord Chevrolet. “I have not heard of a single other dealership that’s been reimbursed. They have a lot of our money.”

Concord Chevrolet has about 44 deals awaiting reimbursement from the federal government, which is offering $3,500 to $4,500 per car as part of the Cash for Clunkers program. The government said Thursday that the program would end Monday.

Downtown Toyota of Oakland halted its participation in Cash for Clunkers last Friday, owner Ralph Fattore said. It has turned away “at least 30, maybe 40″ customers who wanted to trade in a clunker for cash, Fattore said.

“I have not gotten one dollar in reimbursement,” Fattore said. “I have $300,000 or more dollars out there that Uncle Sam owes us. If they screwed up this program so badly, I wonder what our health care system will be like.”

AutoNation, which operates dealerships throughout the country, including a number in the Bay Area under the AutoWest brand, says it is owed $45 million by the government.

Obviously everyone is still hoping that, despite the delays, reimbursements will be forthcoming. The problems are not limited to the Bay Area either. Dealers in New York, among others, have pulled out of the Cash for Clunkers program early. They also say that reimbursements have been slow to come.

Other dealers, however, while concerned about the delays and contemplating an early withdrawal “just to be safe,” are expecting a huge surge of Cash for Clunkers activity over the last weekend of the program. From a story at RGJ.com:

“There’s still a demand among people interested in purchasing (a new vehicle),” said Richard West, president of Jones West Ford on Kietzke Lane in Reno, where about 25 new vehicles have been sold since the program started in July. 

 

“If you’re sitting on the fence, now is the time to buy,” West said.

For more information and to stay abreast of the latest news, here a few resources:

• Official Cash for Clunkers website — (CARS.gov)
• Cash for Clunkers to end Monday — (Official Press Release from CARS.gov)
• Cash for Clunkers Facts — (CashForClunkersFacts.com)

We’ve compiled some of the up-to-date news about the C.A.R.S. program, with links and excerpts below. Additionally, to find out the list of dealers participating in the “Cash for Clunkers” program, follow the link to CARS.gov dealer locator.

As Cash for Clunkers Starts, Dealers Hope to Clear Lots — (Time Magazine)

After many months of agonizingly slow sales, automakers and dealers are anxiously counting on the cash-for-clunkers program, getting under way officially on July 27, to help clear their lots.

They’ve got good reason to be nervous. With sales running at less than 10 million units annually — the lowest level in more than three decades — there is still a mountain of inventory sitting with dealers around the U.S. despite deep cuts in production, not only by the bankrupt General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC, but also by companies such as Toyota, Ford and Nissan.

Auto recyclers leery of cash for clunkers – (AP)

One website that is providing consistent coverage and information about the program is CashForClunkersFacts.com.  There, you can read stories regarding the potential for the program to run out of money by August 1st, as well as a discussion of some consumers’ frustration with fuel economy data.

Saab Buyers Narrowed Down to Two

Saab recently announced that its list of potential buyers has been narrowed down to two. The two buyers purportedly are Swedish car maker Koenigsegg and the U.S.-based investment firm Renco Goup. Negotiations between the final two potential buyers for Saab are expected to begin this week with a decision expected sometime in the next two weeks.

———-

Additional GM Dealer Closings

According to an article by Robert Snell of The Detroit News yesterday, GM is eliminating more dealerships that had been initially reported. Additionally, those dealerships that remain open will likely face more stringent sales standards to avoid being eliminated. According to Snell, the move would have been “difficult, if not impossible, without a bankruptcy filing.”

Here as en excerpt from Snell’s article:

Dealers nationwide started receiving letters Thursday that outline higher standards that essentially replace contracts voided when GM filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday. GM initially notified about 1,100 dealerships last month that their franchise agreements would not be renewed next year, but 250 more dealers were added to the list Thursday.

Snell also reports that the dealers being targeted for elimination will have 17 months to sell their unsold inventory. GM is also offering financial incentives to those dealers who sign wind-down agreements, with the incentives including money to keep dealerships open through the end of 2009 or early 2010 until their remaining inventory is solid.

Follow the link to view the article on the additional GM dealer closings from The Detroit News.

———-

Chrysler Asset Sale Put on Hold

Tiffany Kary and David Glovin of Bloomberg are reporting today that Chrysler’s intended plan to sell its best assets to Fiat SpA has been put on hold by a federal appeals court. Certain creditors of Chrylser are challenging the terms of deal, and their arguments will be heard in an appeals court tomorrow. Chryler is currently losing $100 million per day, according to the article, while it awaits the asset sale that is goaled at making it a “viable company in world markets.”

Follow the link to view the article at Bloomberg about the Chrysler asset sale being put on hold.

———-

And we have saved the best for last…

Rise in New Car Sales Expected

MSNBC.com is reporting that new domestic car sales are expect to rise this summer:

Experts are optimistic about stronger new car sales on the horizon. They point to:

• Renewed consumer confidence about the economy.
• Signs that the overall economy may be bottoming out.
• The recent surge in stock markets.
• A greater willingness by banks and other financial institutions to lend consumers money.
• Pent-up demand for new car purchases.
• “Fire sale” prices by car dealers who are going out of business.

“There are more people looking at and seriously researching new car purchases,” said Karl Brauer, editor in chief at Edmunds.com, the car-information Web site. “There’s a sense among a lot of people that we’ve hit bottom and the economy will be coming back.”

Follow the link to view the entire article at MSNBC.com about the expected growth in new car sales.