Utah auto dealer Jerry Seiner — "The GM Guy" — has purchased most of the inventory of Larry H. Miller's Cadillac and Oldsmobile dealership in Midvale.
The Miller dealership closed earlier this week and has moved its Subaru franchise, which was included with the Cadillac/Olds franchises, to a new location in Sandy.
Seiner said he will not be taking over the former Miller Olds-Cadillac buildings but will simply work the additional vehicles into his current inventory at Jerry Seiner Oldsmobile, Cadillac, 1530 S. 500 West.
Miller spokesman David Allred said the former Olds-Cadillac buildings will be retained and converted into a Larry H. Miller Used Car Supermarket, one of five around the Salt Lake Valley.
The deal was brokered by General Motors, which has said it wants to reduce the number of Cadillac dealers nationwide. GM also announced earlier that it would phase out the Oldsmobile brand altogether, and while a firm date hasn't been set, Seiner said he expects to receive the last new Oldsmobiles in about 24 months.
GM has agreed to give dealers 12 months' notice before closing down the Olds assembly line for good, and Seiner's "best guess" is that it will happen in two years.
At that time, Seiner would make his current Olds-Cadillac dealership exclusively a Cadillac dealer, in the way other luxury marques are currently marketed in the Salt Lake area.
"There's just one place you can buy a Mercedes-Benz, a BMW or a Jaguar, and now there'll be just one place to buy a Cadillac," Seiner said. "All of the luxury brands will have one location."
To that end, Seiner said he will create a separate, upscale showroom exclusively for Cadillac owners and buyers.
But before then, he will continue to sell Oldsmobiles and will provide parts and service for the cars for many years to come.
"Olds drivetrains and engines are General Motors brands, and I expect to be able to get parts through the lifetime of 99 percent of the vehicles, 20 years at least."
Seiner said that in the past, when one of two franchises were lost to a dealer for whatever reason — Cadillac-Olds, Cadillac-Pontiac, Ford-Mercury, Chrysler-Plymouth — it often made the remaining franchise unable to stand on its own. But he believes Cadillac will not only be able to stand alone but do better as a single dealership.
Miller opened a new 32,000-square-foot, $6 million Subaru dealership this week at the Utah Auto Mall in Sandy, for which grand opening ceremonies were scheduled for Thursday. Miller has been a Subaru dealer since 1981.
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