Chrysler Group will offer to reinstate 50 of the 789 dealers terminated last year as part of the automaker’s bankruptcy.
Half of those Chrysler shut down – nearly 400 former dealers – filed last month for an arbitration hearing to appeal their termination. The 50 chosen by Chrysler to rejoin its network are among those who had appeals pending.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The automaker said it will send them letters of intent offering reinstatement as “full-line” representatives.
“The 50 dealers are in locations that offer customer service benefits and will have limited adverse impact on the dealers within our current network,” Chrysler said in a statement.
Discussions to find ‘mutually beneficial alternatives to arbitration’ with other dealers are under way.
shutting them down in June 2009. But the company has since reconsidered some cases, and has over the past eight months offered to reinstate 36 dealers. Friday’s decision brings the total number of dealerships being revived to 86.
The National Automobile Dealers Association said it is pleased with Chrysler’s decision to restore these dealerships, calling it “a move in the right direction.”
“NADA views this as a good faith effort, and hopes that this carries forward in Chrysler’s continuing settlement and arbitration discussions with the other terminated dealers,” the association said in a statement.
