GM Dealer Cull: Now With 50 Percent Less Cull?
Thanks to congressional arbitration, GM’s dealer cull has been steadily downsized since The General made the decision to axe nearly 2,000 dealers during last year’s bankruptcy. Going into bankruptcy, GM had about 6,000 dealers nationwide, and it culled nearly 2,00 of them in an attempt to lean out its distribution channels. But now the Detroit News reports that GM’s North American boss Mark Reuss has said that about half of those culled dealers will have been reinstated by this July, bringing GM’s dealer count back to the 5,000 ballpark.
We’re not providing numbers. Those numbers change every single day. We are talking to dealers who are trying to settle cases with us. We are going to arbitration hearings. Decisions are being handed down and those numbers change every day.
The GM and Chrysler dealer culls have been deeply controversial since day one, generating opposition in congress and among dealers. According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, GM’s reinstatement of 1,000 dealers could save as many as 47,700 jobs.
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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The cull should have been much more extensive. I still have 5 Chevy dealers within 10 miles. We've lost thousands of dealers since 1949 - all the while selling more cars. It's complete myth that more dealers are needed to sell more cars.
A little off Topic, but I didn't know how to get hold of the Boss of this site. The BBC are announcing that Germany has said No to giving Money to GM, as predicted by this Blog. Kind regards GE Levecque
I can only imagine the outrage when after the restaurant wars only Taco Bell remains.
Of course they're being reinstated. Government Motors had to show it was downsizing to get the taxpayer (TARP) money. Just like they shut down 4 brands. Right? Then you look at the big picture and after analysing the models GM killed and the models GM has added, cluster up the rebadges and they dumped a total of: Pontiac G-6/Saturn Aura (Rentalbu clones) Hummer H-2 (Suburban/Yukon) Hummer H-3 (Colorado/Canyon/Suzuki thing clone) Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky Pontiac G-5/Saturn ION (Cobalt clones) Saturn outlook (Acadia/Enclave/Travers clone) Saturn Vue and Pontiac Torent (Equinox clones) Pontiac G-8 (Rebadged Aussie) Saturn Astra (Rebadged Opel) 11 vehicles. But, but, but! Then they replaced them with Buick Regal (instead of the Saturn Aura) Buick Electra (Instead of the G-5) GMC Terrain (Instead of the Vue or the Torent) Chevy Cruze (to slot above the Cobalt) Chevy Wave (instead of G-3) Coming soon Buick Terrain clone Cadillac Outlook clone It's all a ploy to make people think that GM is running "Lean and Mean" when in all actuallity (just like the article states) it's just a matter or shuffling things around. BTW, Pontiac will come back as soon as the IPO arrives, just wait. It'll be like nothing ever even happened.