March 8, 2010—General Motors Corp. announced Friday it intends to reinstate more than 600 dealership franchises.
GM reviewed about 1,100 dealer reinstatement claims that were filed with the American Arbitration Association. GM sent a letter of intent to more than 600 reinstatement claims, which will allow those dealers to conduct normal dealership operations as soon as they comply with the terms of the letter of intent.
“We are eager to restore relationships with our dealers, and get back to doing what we do best—selling cars and taking care of customers,” Mark Reuss, GM North America president, said in a statement. “The arbitration process creates uncertainty in the market. We believe issuing these letters of intent is good for our customers, our dealers and GM.”
Ed Tonkin, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, said the announcement by GM is a significant move forward in advancing the state of dealer relations.
"We appreciate the good faith effort that GM is showing and hope that this carries forward in its continuing settlement and arbitration discussions with the remaining wind-down dealers,” Tonkin said.
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