GM-NADA Standoff

As was announced in the past weeks, General Motors has begun notifying 2,600 of its dealers that they will soon become obsolete for the company's future plans. The notifying will take GM all summer, according to Fritz Henderson, GM's CEO. The first line of dealers to fall are those who are in business with the company's doomed brands; Saturn, Hummer, Saab and of course Pontiac.

But this is not the news. A dealer group aims to fight the closure plans set in motion by GM. According to Autonews, the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) will take point and try to prevent GM from acting on their plan.

"It's too abrupt and drastic. The concern is in every community across the country. Dealers are one of the principal sources of employment, charitable contributions and tax revenue," John McEleney NADA chairman said in an interview.

Late last week, McEleney was a bit less aggressive as he appears to be today. At the time, he only expressed his hope that "GM treats each of its Pontiac dealers fairly and equitably". Apparently, that did not happen, as NADA is now trying to rally some 19,000 of its members and put them to work.

Why? NADA's plan is based on their power of persuasion. They will talk with congressmen, mayors and governors, they will post advertisements in the Washington Post and Politico and even meet with editorial boards of local newspapers all over the country to get the support of the public opinion.

For the time being (NADA's offensive is expected sometimes next week), Fritz Henderson will meet on Wednesday with US government officials to put them up to speed with GM's latest moves.