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Local guy opens new car dealership

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LOWELL, N.C. -- When we first met Ray McKenney at the Grand Opening for McKenney Chevrolet-Buick-Pontiac-GMC-Cadillac, we asked him point blank, “Are you drunk, are you crazy, or are you not watching the news?”

As General Motors struggles to find its footing in the auto world, McKenney is beginning a new venture. His grand opening last week was a giant event featuring the unveiling of the 2010 Chevy Camaro. Women in 70s-style clothing were everywhere. The men wore tie-dye t-shirts. The nostalgia was obviously contagious for the hundreds of community members who came out to support him. All this, even as GM plans which 1,100 dealerships it will shed during consolidation.

So why would anyone buy into General Motors at a time like this?

“I'm…very much an optimistic person,” McKenney told us. “Those aren't mules going up and down the highway. Those are automobiles.”

This is not a business launched on a wing and a prayer. McKenney is an established dealer in Gaston County. He owns a Honda dealership, a Chrysler outfit, and he sells motorcycles in another shop. He was running McKenney Chevrolet from Belmont, until an opportunity arose. He bought out one dealer, and then took over the building of a failed competitor in Lowell. “It was kind of a time to just double down,” he said. “It’s a consolidation.”

He knows he will lose the “Pontiac” brand from his lot, but remains confident that GMC, Buick, Cadillac, and Chevrolet will all survive. The old model of dealers on every corner, he said, was never a sustainable option. “The stronger dealers will get through this and they'll be able to better serve their customers.”