With no quick end in sight to the well-documented financial problems in the auto industry, General Motors says they intend to cut 400 dealerships per year for each of the next four years. AutoBlog reports:
 

Dealership rationalization was something General Motors was looking at well before the economy went pear-shaped. GM still has more than 6,300 dealerships in the U.S., and it is even more important now to start shedding some of that financial burden. That is why The General told dealers at the NADA conference that it plans to get rid of 1,600 dealerships by 2012.

GM’s initial viability plan to Congress proposed an eventual reduction to 4,000 dealerships. No one knows yet, though, how GM plans to do that. GM said it will explain the dealer elimination plan in the follow-up viability plan it submits to Congress on February 17. Said one GM dealer, “They basically said, ‘We’re looking for strong dealers, and if you’re not a strong dealer, you better evaluate your options.’”

According to the article, many dealers are upset about this and claim that GM is using its GMAC financing arm to cull weak dealerships by “setting capital requirements beyond a dealer’s reach.”