GM Dealerships Saved From Closing

UPDATE: With the help of citizen investigators who have been tracking local reports, we've managed to find 10 of the lucky 41 GM dealerships that were led down executioner's row only to be saved at the last minute. The map below highlights the reprieves in yellow, which lay among a sea of GM closures in blue (the map only fits 100 locations, but rest can be seen here).

Michigan, hit hardest by the GM collapse, receive two reprieves for local dealers--one in Grand Rapids and the other in Saginaw, not far from the home of GM, Flint.

Thanks to everyone who helped, especially Chris Olzinger, who has been relentless.

First GM announced it would close 1,100 dealerships; then, while filing bankruptcy last week, it nearly doubled the severity of its cuts by raising the amount to 2,100. Now a lucky few, 41 to be exact, have been saved from the junkyard.

The Detroit News reported that GM has been under pressure from members of Congress, including House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), to keep dealerships open. The House is considering a bill that would cushion the economic fallout of these sweeping changes. The Detroit News reports:

The bill, called the Automobile Dealer Economic Rights Restoration Act of 2009, would restore the economic rights of automobile dealers to protect jobs, workers and small-business owners. It has 40 House co-sponsors, including Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia.

A spokeswoman from GM said the reprieves already granted were not a response to pressure from Congress, but "a result of the process we had in place."

The Huffington Post has asked readers to help us track the GM dealerships, 2,059 now, that have been asked to close. Thank you to the hundreds who sent in tips that helped us create the interactive map below. The blue balloons represent dealerships that will be closing and the yellow represent those that received a reprieve.

Do you know any of the 41 dealerships that have earned a reprieve? If so, send an email to [e-mail]. Include a link to an article that has already named the dealership as one of the lucky 41 or provide the contact information for the dealer's manager. The dealerships will be placed on our map in yellow:

View GM Dealerships Asked to Close (Confirmed) and repreives: in a larger map

And as always, send us word of dealerships that will be closing that are not already on our list.

Here is the list of saved dealerships that have been reported (thanks to Chris Olzinger for finding the first five!):

- Walser Buick Pontiac GMC, Bloomington, MN

Story continues below

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- Fox Pontiac Buick GMC, Grand Rapids, MI

- Mike Wilson Chevrolet, Winchester, KY

- Harris Buick Pontiac GMC, Whittier, CA

- Family Auto Center, Toledo, IA

- Wells River Chevrolet, Wells River, VT

- Garber Buick, Saginaw, MI

- Springhill Motor Company, LA

- Cupp Chevrolet, Marceline, MO

- Tri-County GM, La Junta, CO

- Horter Chevrolet, Mukwonago, WI

- Riley Cadillac, Jefferson City, MO

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Comments

[pastpartisan]

Stimulus is a joke of a concept; it doesn't end up with real economic growth in the long
term. Even the New Deal failed to increase private investment. It wasn't until 1941 that
domestic private investment reached 1929 levels. The fact that the first stimulus has failed
to stop the bleeding yet isn't surprising. Our government deficit for the year which is over
20% of GDP (when the omnibus bill, first stimulus, bailouts, and on-budget deficit are
summed) is unsustainable and something's gotta give, whether it be the lenders or the
interest rates.

hat tip to http://www.iamned.com

[sc300nc]

This is an indication of the corrpuption and under the table deals that occur when the gov't gets involved in private industry. You think this is bad, wait until healthcare gets passed. You think they have the best interests of taxpayers in mind?

[Onandon]

Were they saved before or after they made their mafia payment directly to the Obama Administration?

Once you decide you have the ability to create and control your own destiny, you will be awoken to this fraud.

[bluejoni2525]

Give it a rest !!!

[JoeBlough]

I would still rather order a car on the internet than go to a car dealer. When will this happen?

[engineerndng]

The campaign contribution checks must have made it right on time.

[globality]

Look at the districts where the dealerships were 'saved" then look for donations to members of congress from those dealerships.

Should be very interesting

[5hy56]

Take back the trillions of $$$ given to the banks, who just sit on it and make it totally ineffective then start government incentive to create realistic industries that give employment and generate real productive income, some of which would hopefully be from exports.

Every other country, especially China and most of Europe have goverment incentives to protect it's industries. No matter what you call it it's a form of protectionism and its inevitable. We should stop being naive and take care of our own house. The only ones who win if we don't are the multinational corporations who don't care where they get their hand out.

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[mamacat]

I would definitely like to see some more authoritative reporting on this matter. How many GM dealerships are there in the country, and can GM shut down a dealership that is independently owned? Is there such a thing as a privately owned dealership? This is something I would like to know more about.

The idea of restoring profitability to GM and Chrysler/Fiat by closing sales outlets does seem a bit fishy, especially if those sales outlets are independently owned. If and when the economy turns around, and if and when GM stops building and pushing Hummers and giant SUVs, how do they intend to sell the fuel efficient cars of the future if there is nobody left to sell them?

[drymartini1]

Toyota sells 90% of volume of GM using only 1/3rd of number of dealerships of GM.

if Toyota can do it, loser ass GM should learn to do it. and thats all there is to it. NO EXCUSES

[frustratedNGOperson]

My entire family 5 adult drivers, now own Toyotas because they run, and the dealership repairs cars very well. It's hard to sympathize with the GM dealers.

[5hy56]

The recovery is a forest. People have let their credit cards go, and don"t have mortgage payments it looks as if we are spending more and people have disposable incomes again. Actually, savings are getting drained and there are no new jobs. We are in the calm before the storm. People are spending what every little cash they have left on eating out and shopping for smaller ticket items. This will come to an end in 6 months. There are no new jobs. Can you hear the quiet in America?

hat tip to href=".http://short.ie/g264dk">E for providing good finance and economics articles

[MIKEinNYC]

Now if I had a product to sell I would want my product available for sale in as many outlets as possible.

I would want as much shelf-space as possible.

This is why I do not understand why GM and Chrysler are closing dealerships. How does leaving independent dealerships open lose them money?

Inevitably this will cost them sales and money. For instance, many people buy their vehicles because of the dealers' proximity to their homes or places of business. If they close the dealship that's closest to the customer that customer will shop at the next-closest dealer necessarily losing sales for their brand.

[Patriot86]

It is really too bad that people have no understanding of manufacturing. It cost GM money to have unsold cars at dealerships. Also, they produce more cars then needed which forces them to lower prices and certain dealers who are not selling cars will do fake warranty work which makes customers mad (think something is wrong with car when it's not) and costs GM money. Of course you have to get rid of dealerships since no one wants to address the real problem which is trade. Not one Japanese or Korean car should be sold in this country until they open their markets to our cars-not one.

[5hy56]

The market just doesn't seem to care. No one cares about financial institution corruption, bad banks, recession, job loss, hyperinflation. It's just buy buy buy, Thanks to automation technology, outsourcing, in sourcing, free market capitalism­/globaliza­tion, jobless recoveries are inevitable, sadly, for all future recessions. I predict baseline unemployment will rise from the historical average of 4-5& to 7-8% within the next decade, but the stock market & GDP will keep rising. Higher unemployment will be the new normal. Stocks that benefit from this phase shift are multinationals, high tech, and commodity.

one of my new favorite finance websites: href=".http://lin.cr/qj4 ">Econ & Finance Articles Updated Daily

Politicians will do noting to impede this transition because they lack the power to restrain hypercapitalism, and because they are often paid off.

[progressivegreg]

The Fox dealership here in Grand Rapids is owned by a DeVos, of the Amway empire

[bbk129]

This is a great piece. Excellent integration of journalistic reportage and citizen input. :)

[berrycooda]

GM is expanding in China.

Just wait awhile and we will probably be importing GM products from China.

[bola47]

i used to travel to china many times a year on business. at first i was surprised to see the number of buicks. as the years went on they became more and more prevalent and even chevy vans that were rebadged as buicks were on all the roads. before i retired 3 years ago cadillacs were even on the streets of shanghai.

[Kache]

What goes 'round comes 'round.

Some day we will get our manufacturing jobs back - and we'll be making tennis shoes sold in China. As the old saying goes, "Watch out what you beg for, you just might get it."

[Truthahn]

What a joke. The spokesman from GM swears the dealership reprieves had NOTHING to do with political pressure from Washington. If you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you.