GM Backtracks on Promise to Make Cull Public
“It’s our obligation to be open and transparent in all we do to reinvent GM, particularly with the American taxpayer as our largest investor.” That was the second sentence out of GM CEO Fritz Henderson’s mouth in sworn testimony before the U.S. Senate re: GM’s dealer cull. When pressed by Senator Rockefeller, Henderson reluctantly promised to release the list of all the dealers sent their walking papers by the corporate mothership. And then . . . nothing. In fact, behind the scenes, GM is desperately trying to quarantine/suppress the information.
The Dow Jones newswire tells the tale:
General Motors Corp. (GMGMQ) and their dealers are negotiating with U.S. lawmakers about congressional demands that the company provide a list of dealerships slated to be shut. Top executives at the auto maker and representatives of dealers were in discussions Thursday with staffers from the Senate Commerce Committee to find a compromise. Among the issues is whether the list should be made public, a move opposed by dealers because of the stigma associated with such a list.
“It would just be a devastating financial effect if their names were released,” GM spokesman Greg Martin said.
The logic: many of the doomed dealers are scheduled to remain open through the fall of 2010. If customers knew their GM dealer was terminally ill, they might not decide to buy a car from them. And we wouldn’t want that, now would we?
In other words, GM expects the US government to collude in deceiving customers, whose tax money is helping to “reinvent” GM. Come to think of it; as a veteran GM Death Watcher, this sounds like the same old GM to me.
[If anyone has this list, please send it to farago@ttac.com. I personally guarantee confidentiality.]
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Prob because it would give the consumer too much ammo. Customer goes to a closing dealer and demands a price reduction on a new car or parts b/c they think the dealer is up against the wall. Humorous turn of events from my last new car purchase in '99... (not a GM, but all sorts of dealer insanity and tricks attempted).
If they can't bring themselves to follow through on the cull, and if the politicians meddle with the mathematical realities of business closures by saying "not in my district", then the eventual demise of "New GM" will be accelerated. Same old GM, different day. Hey, at least Chrysler released their list, and at least they have a plan (Fiat, etc.). Not so GM.