Culled Dealers: Today Is The Last Day To Stick It To GM and Chrysler

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

The deadline for culled dealers to apply for congressionally-mandated arbitration is midnight tonight, so if you lost your Chrysler or GM dealership in last year’s bankruptcy cull, you’d best get cracking. The Detroit News reports that at least 1,200 of the roughly 3,000 culled dealers had applied for arbitration, according to the American Arbitration Association. That number is expected to creep rise even higher by the time the deadline expires. Many observers had expected arbitration applications to be much lower, as GM and Chrysler had dragged out the proceedings, forcing many dealers to shutter their shops. GM has already reversed the closure of 80 dealers and Chariman/CEO Ed Whitacre has said he expects “hundreds” more to be reinstated in arbitration. Chrysler continues to take a hard line on the issue, a stance that is sure to make its arbitration proceedings considerably more tense.

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Lynn Ellsworth Lynn Ellsworth on Jan 25, 2010

    When I shop for a bicycle or large screen TV or a solar hot water panel or plumbing fixtures I am treated by sales staffs with respect but when I shop for a car I am treated like a stupid POS. Is there any other industry that sells their products using such awful sales outlets? The auto dealers are lucky they weren't all culled and then only those being allowed to return when the manufacturers had some assurance the dealer realized what a human being was.

    • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Jan 25, 2010

      +1 I think they get away with it because of America's insatiable love for the automobile. The dealers know you'll buy a new car somewhere, even if it isn't their shop. I've had much better experiences at used car dealers, since they don't have a brand affinity, someone else paid down the depreciation, and used car quality is variable enough to demand variable pricing. And nowhere is a case to be made that restoring GM & C's dealerships will somehow make the mfrs more profitable. What a joke.

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