The actions by G.M. described below are what I call a makeup call. It happens in sports all the time. A referee makes a bad call on one team, them makes a call on the other team to make up for it. Today I will spare you any references to car engines of any type, since it is not relevant. Here we go.
General Motors Co. is offering 45-day discounts of as much as $2,000 a vehicle to 950,000 customers of the company’s closed dealerships. A move criticized as unaccepatble by a leader of a group of rejected dealers.
The automaker started sending letters Nov. 16 to some customers of stores that have already shut down or lost a franchise.
The incentive program offers discounts of between $1,000 and $2,000 on most models of its four remaining U.S. brands.
The size of the discount depends on the customer’s likelihood to purchase a GM vehicle and the relative distance to the next closest dealer.
This is their way of trying to keep their current customers in the GM family by making it easy for them to get back into a dealership.
It is not clear what impact if any the GM offer will have on ongoing negotiations with rejected dealers over possible restoration of their rights.
The new GM incentives left one dealer advocate distressed about the timing. “This is an inappropriate time to take such an aggressive measure,” according to leaders of the Committee to Restore Dealer Rights, a group of rejected dealers that is participating in the talks. “If dealer rights are to be restored, why would GM go in and move all those customers?”
Good luck to General Motors. I hope it works, at least government money is not involved. Our town still has one tiny Chevy dealership and a GMC-Buick dealership. I have been friendly with some of the same guys at the local Chevy dealer for almost 30 years. We brought you this trivial information as a courtesy. I’m a die hard GMC engines and truck person, I don’t know what I would do if we had no Chevy/GMC dealer in town. We don’t have any Chrysler brand dealers in town left, the closest one is 20 miles away. GotEngines.com @ 1-888-344-8044.
