By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN — All Pro Nissan of Dearborn, 24501 Michigan Ave., and All Pro Nissan of Macomb closed their doors and filed a lawsuit against two former NFL players for millions of unpaid dollars.
Former NFL linebackers Jessie Armstead and Antonio Pierce along with automotive industry retail veteran Michael Saporito were asked to be part of a Nissan plan to grow market share in the area three years ago.
A lawsuit was filed in August against the group by Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. and Hyundai Capital America alleging “it sold nearly 500 vehicles but failed to repay millions of dollars in floorplan loans on the vehicles as dictated in lending agreements,” according to Crains Detroit.
The dealership group denied the allegations made in the lawsuit.
Along with the two dealerships in Michigan, Nissan North America Inc. terminated its sales-and-service franchise agreement for Hazleton Nissan in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago, according to Crains Detroit.
“Nissan is working to identify candidates to fill these locations,” a Nissan spokeswoman said in an email to Automotive News. Kia Motors America also told the Automotive News via email that in October, the Hazleton Kia franchise was terminated for failing to conduct normal business operations.
According to Crains Detroit, court records show that the two empty and closed dealerships could be sold by Nissan in the future.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected])