• Ad Age, Wednesday, July 25, 2007 10:30 AM

Detroit area Chevrolet dealers have disbanded a local marketing group in a dispute with General Motors Corp. over a fee they paid on every vehicle they sold to help fund the enterprise. The fee amounted to 1% of sticker price, excluding shipping.

Dealers were refunded the fee if a vehicle sold with a GM employee discount. In the Detroit market, sales to GM employees and family members account for 65% to 85% of unit sales. Three Detroit Chevrolet dealers say GM sought to retain the charge on employee sales if the money was needed to cover a shortfall in ad expenses.

Bill Wink, a Chevrolet dealer in Dearborn, Mich., says GM will continue to pay for national and regional advertising in the Detroit market, and individual dealers still will advertise their own dealerships. The dispute has not spread to Chevrolet's local marketing groups in other metro areas.

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