Dumbest moments in business 2009

6 of 21

Dear Chrysler dealer: Good-bye

Chrysler guillotined 25% of its dealership network in remarkably brutal fashion: It dispatched the bad-news letters by UPS the same day it went public with its list of 789 dealerships slated for termination. That meant many dealers found out from the press -- not Chrysler -- that they'd been whacked.

General Motors also culled its dealer network this year, but at least it gave those it blackballed a year to wind down their operations. Chrysler offered less than 30 days. It was a financial wipeout, with dealers forced to liquidate their inventories for pennies on the dollar. Hundreds of brand loyalists that tried to "grab life by the horns" ended up getting gored.

By Stacy Cowley, CNNMoney.com small business editor

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