General Motors Corp. has told its roughly 4,000 surviving dealers to stop selling non-GM brands in their showrooms by the end of this year, said an official of the company.
Mark LaVeve, GM’s vice president for sales, services and marketing, told the Detroit News in a letter that the dealers must also be prepared to sell more vehicles and improve the look of their showrooms, if necessary.
GM is seeking to close at least 2,400 of its nearly 6,200 dealers during its stay in bankruptcy court.
The company said it expects that its continuing dealers will remove non-GM brands from the GM showroom by Dec. 31, 2009, and will operate a showroom exclusive to GM products going forward…
Nearly 90 percent of GM’s continuing dealers have signed or verbally agreed to the participation agreements…
Should franchise agreements have this kind of power?
Mr fusion the reason that the Chrysler bankruptcy was so unconstitutional was that the govt broke it own laws when it negotiated the bankruptcy
bond holders are at the top of the list to get their money returned in a bankruptcy, in this bankruptcy the bond holders are getting back approx 10 cents on the dollar invested but the unsecured creditors like the unions ( who under federal law only get paid if there is money remaining from the secured creditors ) are getting back 44 cents on the dollar and they are receiving approx 45% of the company.
the laws that were broken are laws that date back to the founding of this country and now have been overturned by a corrupt Presidency paying back his supporters the unions with ill gotten and illegal funds
This is the last thing gm needs. If they are truly developing more fuel-efficient and innovative products after the restructuring they would want to have dealers showcase them next to competing brands, proving that they are not afraid to be compared. This and other recent moves shows just how afraid they are and just how far they are willing to go to screw over loyal dealers who still want to offer gm cars and trucks.
I wonder how many will just rip up their gm contracts like the (almost) worthless pieces of paper they are and sell other brands. I wonder how many of these and other dealerships who cannot get the contract renewed will start selling Honda, Toyota, KIA ect. just because it is a smart move instead of just going out of business.
I’ve said it before-
Chrysler as we know it is gone
GM as we know it is gone
Ford as we know it might be gone
and it is too early to tell what might rise from the ashes, if anything.
Finally, there is no truly American car company anymore and I am sick and tired of all the ‘don’t buy imports’ people out there trying to guilt me into buying an inferior product. I drive a Honda and buying it was a very patriotic experience because I still have the freedom to. They have plants in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. Wake me up when an affordable electric hits the market (and is not scrapped right away)…
PS, I live in Michigan, not far from Detroit.
#39
That’s a pretty big IF in your statement.
Toss in a few Maybes and a couple of Might have happens and the next thing ya know ya got global warming.
What is fact is that the government didn’t follow the rules and as soon as all the dust settles, when actual damages are assessed by the illegal action….then you’ll see some sparks fly.
Reminds me of the scene in Ben Hur where they chain the slaves to the ship to make sure they go down with it.
I think those Indiana bondholders could be declared terrorists under provisions of the Patriot Act, then imprisoned indefinitely, and perhaps even waterboarded until they renounce their monetary claims.
Problem solved. God bless America 😉
It really does not matter to me. I would never buy a GM car now that the government runs it.
#37, pmitchell,
I asked how this is unconstitutional. You failed to provide any evidence or even a suggestion why.
Second, the Union were not unsecured creditors. According to their contract, they had first preference in any bankruptcy agreement. There is nothing illegal nor sinister in that as such contracts are written all the time.
fusion show any where that is says the unions were secured creditors and had first rights nothing I have read ever said they were secured creditors
the law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_in_the_United_States
Article 1, Section 8: “To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;”
Only congress may change the BK laws, not the Executive
#46 Patrick, the Executive didn’t change any laws here, as you’re alleging here, and neither did the congress. You’re forgetting the one branch that holds more power (and discretion) than any other in bankruptcy proceedings, and that’s the judiciary. Bankruptcy judges hold enormous power in deciding upon a fair plan for creditors, but if you don’t believe me, perhaps you’ll believe it if you hear it on FOX…
http://foxbusiness.com/search-results/m/20925770/lehman-s-bankruptcy-process.htm
# 47 Gary, the dangerous infidel said, on June “#46 Patrick, the Executive didn’t change any laws here, as you’re alleging here,”
I alledged nothing.
#45, pmitchell
Where is the evidence or even the charge what has happened is unconstitutional? I really hate it when the right wing nuts start just claiming that any garbage they want to invent is the truth. You are parroting what Boss Limpdick is crapping again. You don’t have any idea what is unconstitutional about this.
#48, Cow-Patty,
What effen gall!!! The brazen audacity!!! The almighty nerve, to imply something and turn around and deny it.
No wonder the right has such vacant leadership. When Boss Limpdick says something, all you nimrods jump on the band wagon and parrot the same crap. None of you have the ability to think.
All I know is that ±60% of GM is now owned by the US taxpayer, and I want to sell my share . I need the cash in hand, not a piece of corporate turd.
# 51 OvenMaster said, “All I know is that ±60% of GM is now owned by the US taxpayer, and I want to sell my share”
And, the US paid the equivolent of 78% of the asset value for that 60% share. What moron authorized that?
#52, Cow-Patty,
Still won’t answer what is unconstitutional?
#42
oooooooohhhhhhh – how I love it when you talk strong. What are you going to do to me when I ‘refuse to talk’….don’t keep me in suspense, tell me now!!
On the other hand. Since I (we the people) am a 60% majority holder in this company, I declare that Union Contracts null & void. And further, I demand 150% payment on my bonds!
#8, Jerry, Do you mean foreign BRANDED cars, largely (if not totally) built in America, or do you mean Domestically BRANDED cars largely assembled in Mexico?
What applies to selling food, should apply to selling cars. Would you like going to a grocery store that only sold the Post brand, but not Quaker? Utz, but not Frito Lay? Nabisco, but not Keebler? Most other retail outlets supply a token of brand competition, in practically everything they sell. But I’m sure the mega chains, such as Target, KMart, and Walmart, limit this to a few carefully negotiated brands, only. For example, not much competes with the Martha Stewart brand, at KMart. But still, there’s almost always a minimum of two brand per item.
Now along comes cars, and the dealerships that are allowed to sell them. And suddenly, it’s all out the window. Competition, that its. Perhaps its fine for a large metro area, to limit one auto brand per dealership. As there are probably dozens of dealerships in that town. But out in the “sticks” somewhere, there may only be one or two dealerships, period. And if you or I lived in small town USA. Why should we be limited to only the one or two brands of cars, those dealerships were signed up to sell, exclusively? It’s the makers who came up with this notion of exclusivity. And they eventually allowed the foreign brands to creep in, because they didn’t see them as much of a threat. But the big three domestic brands are still not, sold together at any one dealership. It’s one US brand, and one foreign brand, per dealer.
It’s not the overseas competition that ruined GM. It’s their own fault for trying to dictate what the public wants. And ignoring that the foreign brands are actually responding to what the public wants. Like quality, and economy. Rather than big and wasteful SUVs and Vans. Which the big three keep wanting to push out on everyone, even with high gas prices. They practically killed the economy car class, by turning out the crappiest quality and design, that they could come up with. Thankfully I never bought a Geo Metro. Or any of the other Geo line. And where are they now? Probably all in junk yards. And after that brief taste of economy, it was out with the SUVs. Cause they didn’t have to meet the mileage or air emission standards of the compacts.
What concerns me now, about these major US makers bankruptcy deals is. Are they going to use this to get out of making any Electric cars, in the foreseeable future (bet so)? And will they also use this ploy to retrain the resale of used cars online? Let’s face it, the major makers have always gotten the concessions they’ve wanted from Congress, by bribing them silly. So they get to sell their wares, as almost no one else can. Except for other US defense / aerospace contractors.