DATE: Wednesday, July 30, 1997              TAG: 9707300527

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: HAMPTON                           LENGTH:   59 lines

CRUMPLER'S DEALERSHIP STILL TURNS PROFIT, WITNESS SAYS

Despite a public outcry over Bob Crumpler's racist remarks late last year, the dealer's Nissan franchise in Newport News is on its way to another profitable year, a witness testified Tuesday.

Crumpler's chief financial officer, Robert Pendergrass, said the dealership's sales dropped off in the first several months after December, when a videotape of Crumpler referring to an employee as a ``nigger'' was televised nationwide. But sales have since rebounded, Pendergrass said.

``An ad agent told me the other day, `Any publicity is better than none,' '' he said after his testimony.

The Department of Motor Vehicles hearings that continued Tuesday will help determine whether Crumpler may keep his Nissan dealership, Bob Crumpler's Denbigh Nissan.

Embarrassed by Crumpler's publicized behavior, which also includes assaults of a customer and a police officer, Nissan Motor Corp. has been trying to end its relations with the dealer. But the automaker must first prove during this series of DMV hearings that it has ``good cause'' under state law to pull Crumpler's franchise.

Nissan contends Crumpler has a history of poor sales, bad service and customer abuse. It also alleges his dealership defrauded the automaker by submitting false warranty claims.

Crumpler's racist comments, aimed at an employee of his James City County trailer park, were merely the last straw, Nissan has said.

On Tuesday, Crumpler's supporters said the dealership has been profitable, earning about $106,000 in the first six months of the year. That's down from the same period last year, though recent months show improvement, Pendergrass said.

Nissan's attorney disputed the dealership's numbers, saying Crumpler beefed up financial statements by excluding certain costs, including his own salary. Crumpler took home $191,754 in pay in 1990, according to Nissan, and that amount was gradually whittled to $14,000 in 1996 and nothing so far this year. During this period, Crumpler was handing over day-to-day management of the dealership to his son, Darel.

Initially, competitors might have thought Crumpler's bad news was their good fortune. But it certainly didn't turn out that way, a rival dealer said.

So far this year, Bob Crumpler's Denbigh Nissan dealership has sold 107 cars and trucks - making it No. 6 among 11 area Nissan dealers. It placed one notch ahead of rival Tysinger Nissan in Hampton, but far below No. 1 Checkered Flag Nissan in Chesapeake, which sold 448 automobiles.

``If anything, I think that the publicity surrounding the entire situation has hurt Nissan in general,'' said Mark Tysinger, president of Tysinger Nissan. ``I don't feel like we've been the beneficiary of any business.''

In other testimony, Crumpler's wife, Jackie, disputed claims that she ordered employees to note on applications whether job prospects were black.

In previous testimony, Shirley Guckenberger, a Nissan manager, had testified that Crumpler kicked her in the rear. Another time, she said, he also suggested she perform an oral sex act on him.

Tuesday, Darel Crumpler said he had attended the meeting in which Guckenberger claimed his father made the sexual remark.

``It didn't happen,'' he said.

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