A new dealership group know as “California Superstores” is buying up former Chrysler dealerships in California as a way to beat the high cost of real estate and rebuild Chrysler’s slow market in the United States. Complaints from existing Chrysler dealers say that the alliance between Chrysler and the New York Hedge fund is leading to an unfair advantage for existing dealerships. They have alleged that Chrysler is providing below market rent subsidies that have not been offered to them. Peter Welch, president of the California dealers association, said he is unfamiliar with the terms of the California Superstores venture, but has heard many concerns among existing Chrysler dealers.

California Superstores has already opened six stores in California, and plans to open eight more in areas where Chrysler has done poorly. The plan is to eventually open stores on the East Coast, according to Carlos Hoz de Vila, managing partner of California Superstores.

In an unrelated situation, the state dealers association has brought forward complaints against Chrysler, saying that they are operating an illegal factory owned store at Motor Village L.A. in downtown Los Angeles. The California New Motor Vehicle Board has asked the state Department of Motor Vehicles to investigate the complaint.

Chrysler has recently announced that they have paid back $7.5 billion in government loans allowing them to continued their integration with Fiat, a merger that has been in the making for almost two years now.