Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, will hear testimony from James Fleming, the president of the Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association, at the Committee’s second hearing to examine the state of America’s automobile industry on Thursday morning. 

After the Committee’s first hearing on this issue last month, Dodd met with Mr. Fleming and other Connecticut auto dealers, suppliers, and labor representatives to hear from them about how the economic crisis is impacting their business.  Dodd subsequently invited Mr. Fleming to testify at the Committee’s second hearing.

“When I met with members of the Connecticut auto industry, I heard sobering news about the state of their business,” said Dodd.  “I thought it was important to share the views of a businessman on the front lines of this crisis with my colleagues in Washington.  Mr. Fleming will bring an important local perspective to our witness panel, reminding us that the failure of any one of these auto companies could have repercussions far outside Detroit.  I look forward to hearing his testimony on Thursday.”

“I want to thank Senator Dodd for holding this key hearing as well as ensuring that the voice of Connecticut’s automotive dealers are heard,” Fleming said.  “I want the committee members to know that what they decide could very well determine the future health and well-being of this nation’s retail automotive industry.” 

The Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association is comprised of 300 new and used car dealers in the state.  They employ approximately 14,000 people and add $9 billion annually to the state’s economic output.  In the past year, 25 dealerships have closed with gross employment among member dealers dropping by 700. 

The Banking Committee hearing will convene at 10 A.M. on Thursday, December 4th.  The witness panel will include the CEOs of the “Big Three” American automobile companies and the president of the United Auto Workers union, among others.    

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