The story of a chicken, a closed dealership and dwindling sales taxes.

Agata Popęda here. On Friday, Dec. 12, the Weekly’s Associate Editor Erik Chalhoub—usually a very collected man—came to the office visibly moved. He just learned that the Premier Hyundai of Seaside, where he bought and used to service his car, was abruptly closing. Chalhoub is a type of person who takes meticulous care of his car, so the emotional stir—from now on he will have to commute to Hyundai of Gilroy to get his car’s oil changed every 7,500 miles—seemed understandable, but it turned out there was more to the story.

Visiting Premier Hyundai for the last time, he learned a story of a chicken named Chicky Lou who visited the dealership daily for the last decade. In the print version of the article in this week’s edition of the Weekly, Chalhoub talks about the consequences of the dealership’s closure for the customers and the City of Seaside, but in a separate online article, some details of the chicken drama are revealed. 

I simply had to follow up. 

“When I arrived at the dealership, I saw a random chicken strolling through but didn’t think much of it until one of the employees mentioned it,” Chalhoub shares. “The chicken looked like she didn’t have a care in the world. I’m envious.”

But the good old days are over. Chicky Lou, who likely lives with a nearby household, is as disappointed with the dealership closing as its employees and customers—she will need to move on just like everybody else. The question is: Will she be welcomed if she offers her mascot services at the nearby Porsche or Jaguar dealership?

As a possible reason for the location’s closure, an employee told Chalhoub that many local customers are interested in more luxurious vehicles than Hyundai.

“Hyundai produces electric vehicles, but they relied heavily on the federal incentive,” Chalhoub tells me, referring to the $7,500 tax rebate for electric vehicles once offered by the federal government. “Once that went away in September, EV sales dropped—for all automakers.” He also shared that he eventually wants to buy an electric vehicle, but pricing and the relative lack of charging infrastructure locally is holding him back.

The issue of competition between affordable cars, like Hyundai, and more luxurious cars can be an issue on the Monterey Peninsula, Chalhoub says, but it doesn’t reflect a national trend. “Actually, it’s affordable cars that are gaining in popularity across the nation,” he says. “There aren’t that many new cars under $25,000 these days, but those are selling at a much quicker rate compared to more expensive vehicles. Still, vehicles will continue to get more expensive.”