• March 8, 2010

General Motors has said that after reviewing some 1,100 requests filed to the American Arbitration Association by dealers slated to be closed by the automaker, it will offer 600 of them "Letters of Intent."

The company says the Letter of Intent contains core business criteria. It lets dealers "conduct normal dealership operations as soon as they comply with the terms of the Letter of Intent."

Said Mark Reuss, president, GM North America 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 move is good for dealer relations. "The announcement by General Motors today of its intent to reinstate 661 dealers is a significant move forward ... 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."--Karl Greenberg