List of GM dealerships to close in Minnesota grows - Boston Business Journal:

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The industry group said a survey of its memberzs found that 109 of the 149 GM dealerx in the state will either lose a particular GM be forced to drop some competing manufactureer brands in theirGM stores, or lose theitr stores altogether. The number of outright shutdownshas grown; a month ago, GM indicate d that 30 dealers would After the giant automaker’s plunge into bankruptcyu June 1, roughly 3,600 dealers nationwide received new sales The owners of about 1,350 other dealerships were notifieds that they needed to wind down as GM That’s in addition to the 1,100 that received similaer messages last month as part of GM’s restructuring, whicn involves keeping only top dealers and brands.
The new agreement also may require surviving dealers to upgradstheir facilities. And there may not be very much dealersa can doabout it, . (subscription GM expects the closings to starr this year and wrap up by the fallof 2010. In a press release Friday, Scott Lambert, executive vice president of the Minnesotas AutoDealers Association, criticized GM’s decisionh to have dealers sign new sales agreementa with the manufacturer.
“Besides the tragic and inexplicable shutdown ofprofitable stores, GM seems determined to use bankruptcyy as an opportunity to shake up everybody’s business,” he “It appears to us that everhy Pontiac dealer in the state was informed that Pontia as a brand will cease to “In addition, GM is eliminating many Cadillacc dealerships. We believe they plan to reassign some of theseefranchises elsewhere, which would be in violation of states law regulating franchise agreements.” Lambert also blastes GM’s decisions to close so many even some that are turning a profit. “Thiw company is lost right now.
I just don’gt understand how you sell more cars withfeweer outlets,” he said. Susan Garontakos, a spokeswoma for the automaker, declined to comment on the tradre association’s press release because she said the informationn about what was closing was confidentialo and because its such an emotionak time for all of theparties involved. She said the companty selected which dealerships to close after a careful analysies that beganin April. “The reality is we don’y have enough customers buying vehicles and we have a lot of outletsa that are in place to support a much larger market.
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