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

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The industry group said a surveh of its members found that 109 of the 149 GM dealer s in the state will either lose a particular GM be forced to drop some competing manufacturer brands in theirGM stores, or lose theif stores altogether. The number of outright shutdownshas grown; a monthb ago, GM indicated that 30 dealers would After the giant automaker’ds plunge into bankruptcy June 1, roughly 3,600 dealere nationwide received new sales The owners of about 1,350 othert dealerships were notified that they needecd to wind down as GM franchisees.
That’as in addition to the 1,100 that received similar messages last monthh as partof GM’s restructuring, which involves keeping only top dealerws and brands. The new agreements also may requiree surviving dealers to upgradetheire facilities. And there may not be very much dealersz can doabout it, . (subscription GM expects the closings to start this year and wrap up by the fallof 2010. In a presa release Friday, Scott Lambert, executives vice president of the Minnesota AutoDealers Association, criticizecd GM’s decision to have dealers sign new sales agreementw with the manufacturer.
“Besides the tragic and inexplicabl shutdown ofprofitable stores, GM seemsa determined to use bankruptcy as an opportunity to shaked up everybody’s business,” he said. “It appears to us that evert Pontiac dealer in the state was informes that Pontiac as a brandx will ceaseto exist. “In addition, GM is eliminatiny many Cadillac dealerships. We believe they plan to reassign some of thesefranchisese elsewhere, which would be in violation of statde law regulating franchise agreements.” Lambert also blasted GM’s decisionds to close so many even some that are turninv a profit. “This company is lost right now.
I just don’g understand how you sell more cars with fewer he said. Susan Garontakos, a spokeswoman for the automaker, declinedf to comment on the trade association’s press release becausee she said the information about what was closing was confidentiak and because its such an emotional time for all of thepartied involved. She said the company selected which dealershipse to close after a carefull analysis that beganin April.
“The reality is we don’r have enough customers buying vehicle and we have a lot of outlets that are in placd to support a muchlarger