General Motors today (6 August) announced it had concluded the US dealer arbitration process and that from 1 November, it will have a network of around 4,500 dealerships to sell and service customers for Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles.
The company also said many of these dealerships are participating in a major facilities upgrade programme, with more than 300 updates already completed and about 1,000 projects scheduled to the end of 2010.
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“Our dealers are the face of GM to our customers and valued members of the communities where they do business across America,” said GM North America president Mark Reuss. “We’re confident our dealer network will be the best in the business. It will be the right size with the right dealers to give our customers service during and after the purchase.”
Although GM’s new dealer network is around 25% smaller than in early 2009, it still remains the country’s largest.
“We spent a considerable amount of time and effort to work toward a mutually agreeable resolution with our dealers,” Reuss said. “We’re pleased we could complete this process in what we believe is an effective and efficient manner.”
During its restructuring last year, GM offered wind-down agreements to 2,064 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers the company determined needed to transition one or more of those brands from the dealer network by 31 October this year when the dealer agreement expires.
Under the provisions of a federal law passed in December, 2009, GM dealers filed 1,176 arbitration cases with the American Arbitration Association to have their dealer agreements reinstated. Only 62 arbitration cases were completed with decisions rendered.
GM offered 702 Letters of Intent to involved dealers, allowing them to conduct normal dealer operations as soon as they complied with the terms of the Letter of Intent. GM has reached 408 individual resolutions with other dealers, most of which call for the dealer to continue the wind-down process. Four cases were dismissed.
In June, 2009, GM had 6,049 dealerships selling eight brands, with 87 brand combinations. The new dealer body will have around 4,500 dealerships, with 15 brand combinations and four brands.
GM dealerships across the US are updating their Chevrolet, Buick-GMC and Cadillac facilities to align with new branding guidelines. This initiative, which began in October, 2009, is accelerating and dealerships are now upgrading their stores at the rate of around 100 per month.
Major elements of the image upgrades include work areas with phone and lap top computer power outlets, Wi-Fi and a café area with refreshments.
To support this effort, GM is updating or installing new signs at Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealerships across the US.
“Putting our new dealer network in place is one of the most important elements in the rebirth of GM,” said Reuss.
