Layton dealership reinstated as Chrysler dealership following arbitration

LAYTON — Cutrubus Motors committed to spend millions to meet Chrysler standards, only to find out the company was eliminating 789 dealerships nationwide — including the Layton company.

But months of effort fighting the decision that left Cutrubus as a used-cars dealership last year finally paid off.

The dealership was fighting the terminations that Chrysler Corp. enacted as part of its bankruptcy through a congressional bill allowing dealers who believed they had been wronged to pursue binding arbitration. That fight was successful, according to an arbitration ruling announced Tuesday.

"The Cutrubus Automotive team greatly appreciates the arbitrator's ruling providing them the opportunity to be rightfully reinstated," Homer Cutrubus, an owner of Cutrubus Motors, said in a press release. "We especially appreciate the many loyal customers who stood by us in this difficult time, and with our reinstatement, we look forward to providing our Chrysler Jeep and Dodge customers with unequaled service for many years to come."

The Layton dealership is the first in Utah and just one of two dealers nationwide to successfully remain a Chrysler dealership.

Andrew Deiss, attorney with Jones Waldo Holbrook & McDonough, which represented Cutrubus in the arbitration, said the initial termination of Cutrubus Motors as a Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership was a threat to the legacy of the Layton dealership and would have caused a "significant loss" to the community.

"The loss of Cutrubus would've been a challenge to Layton, to its tax base and to the vendors for Cutrubus Motors," Deiss told the Deseret News. "The absence would have been greatly felt."

The Layton dealership started as a Chrysler dealership in the late 1960s.

e-mail: lgroves@desnews.com