GM Dealership Network: to Die For

The civil war waged last year on American soil between American bankrupt manufacturers Chrysler and GM ended. We all know who won, but few of us knew, until now, what the two car makers had won.

We say “until now” because, in an attempt to give meaning to the (at times) hatred with which GM went after its own dealership network last year, the Detroit giant released today what it considers to be the “why” behind the events of 2009.

During its year of rebirth, GM rejected about 2,000 of its dealers, saying that shedding them is essential to the survival of a car maker supporting tens of thousands of families. Some filed for arbitration, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) said it was going to investigate what had happened for real, but the fact remains that the dealership network of 2010 is not the same as the one in 2009.

GM brags you can notice that not only from the reduced number of GM stores across the nation, but also from the way in which the surviving ones look like. In September, GM announced the overhaul of the Chevrolet dealerships, and now it is showing the world how a redone Buick and GMC stores look like.

“It has often been said that the first rule of good business is take care of your customers, or someone else will,” says GM. ”And the second rule is you can’t take care of your customers if you haven’t taken care of yourself first. “