A Cleveland, Tenn., dealership that sought community support last year to overcome a termination of its dealerships by GM is pursuing another path it hopes will open the way to continued affiliation with the automaker.
Don Ledford Automotive will seek congressionally mandated arbitration that begins later this month, according to manager Debbie Ledford Melton.
GM Interim Chief Executive Ed Whitacre told reporters Wednesday that "hundreds" of dealerships could be saved if they choose to apply for consideration before the Jan. 25 deadline.
Neil Brunetz, executive director of the Chattanooga Area Automotive Dealers Association, said the arbitration process for the 1,350 dealers in question will be quick and final.
"I don't know how many will be saved," said Mr. Brunetz. "The arbitrator basically has the decision on whether the dealership can be saved. It's kind of a new process on a short timeframe."
State representatives, the mayor of Cleveland and local residents rallied around Don Ledford Automotive in late November in an attempt to save the dealership, which is run by Ms. Melton, daughter of founder Don Ledford.
"We support the community so much, and I think the community knows that," said Ms. Melton. "I'll never forget the Monday night I went public with this with my knees knocking together, and it was very humbling the way they decided that very night that they were going to support us."
Ms. Melton said the dealership made money in 2009 by focusing on selling youth-oriented cars, practicing smart inventory management and emphasizing the service side of her business. Despite having no new cars on the lot because of the franchise revocation and facing an industrywide slump, Ms. Melton said Ledford Automotive still sells 10 to 15 cars during a slow month.
"We've had to compensate for not having new cars, and because of the economy that we're in, it's very important that we watch the expense of cars right now," said Ms. Melton.
The dealership continues its links to General Motors through October, but GM has ended its shipment of new vehicles to the business, Ms. Melton said. The business included the Buick, GMC and Cadillac brands.
Courtesy Sales and Service of Dalton, Ga., on the other hand, has chosen not to pursue arbitration with Chrysler, according to manager Floyd Bell.
"We haven't thought about it at all," he said, expressing displeasure in the process used by Chrysler.
Mr. Bell said that after giving the dealership a week's notice of its franchise revocation, Chrysler charged the company $350 to haul unsold vehicles from the lot. Mr. Bell now sells only used cars.
Tim Kelly, owner of the Kelly Auto Group, faces a different situation. Negotiations between GM and Dutch automaker Spyker Cars to sell GM-owned Saab have stalled, and GM has said it may shutter manufacturing lines and phase Saab out of its lineup.
"We just don't know yet whether Spyker is going to be able to get everything it wants from GM, in which case [Saab] will survive, or if GM will wind it down, and it will go the way of Pontiac, Saturn, and the Edsel," said Mr. Kelly.
Saab's demise will not harm the Kelly Auto Group, according to Mr. Kelly, because he doesn't allocate many resources to the brand.
"It won't have a discernible impact on our business. It'll be sad, but it won't really hurt us much," said Mr. Kelly.