GM, Chrysler dealer terminations fueled resentment among retailers

None> TerminatorsTimeline for the dealer terminations pursued by General Motors and Chrysler Group in 2009April 27: GM announces plans to drop 2,600 dealerships.May 14: Chrysler announces 789 dealership terminations.May 15: GM announces first round of planned dealership cuts; about 1,350 stores are eventually targeted for closure.June 3: Maryland dealer Jack Fitzgerald and Arent Fox law firm propose legislation to reverse closures.June 8: Rep. Dan Maffei, D-N.Y., introduces bill to restore dealership franchises.June 18: Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, introduces similar bill.July 13-14: Hundreds of dealers mobilized by Committee to Restore Dealer Rights fly to Washington to lobby lawmakers.July 16: House passes legislation to reverse dealership closures by a 219-208 vote.Sept. 3: With legislation stalled in Senate, dealer groups unite behind proposal for rejected-dealer arbitration and compensation.Sept. 30: GM, Chrysler begin settlement talks with dealer groups.Dec. 3: GM, Chrysler break off talks, announce arbitration with original termination criteria.Dec. 9: House and Senate negotiators approve arbitration bill with criteria more favorable to dealers.Dec. 10: House passes the legislation, 221-202.Dec. 14: Senate passes same bill, 57-35, sending it to President Barack Obama.Dec. 16: Obama signs bill. TAMARA DARVISHON DEALERSHIP TERMINATIONS BY GM AND CHRYSLER IN 2009"It was hard to be on the [NADA] board of directors feeling like you don't belong. ... It was like the rejected dealers were no longer part of their constituency." Thousands of dealership terminations by General Motors and the former Chrysler Group in 2009 stirred deep resentment among affected dealers -- not only against Washington politicians, but against the automakers and NADA.

GM, Chrysler dealer terminations fueled resentment among retailers

Featured Stories