Nearly all dealers agree to work with new GM: CEO

By Mari Saito and John Crawley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Virtually all dealers asked to do business with the new General Motors Corp after bankruptcy have agreed to do so, while the automaker will work through the weekend to weigh appeals from those that are being cut loose, the company's chief executive said on Friday.

Some 96 percent of 3,500 dealerships GM wants to retain have agreed verbally or in writing to work with the automaker and 90 percent of those whose franchises are ending have signed or verbally agreed to wind-down terms, GM CEO Fritz Henderson told a House of Representatives subcommittee.

The dealerships with which GM wants to maintain a relationship had until Friday to accept terms that the automaker said were aimed at streamlining its distribution and sales network and increasing market share.

"Our dealership consolidation is not just about saving money, but about creating opportunity and revenue growth," Henderson said, adding it received 856 appeals from dealerships facing termination and reversed closure decisions for 45.

GM will consider appeals through the weekend, he said.

Chrysler Group LLC Deputy Chief Executive Jim Press told the panel Chrysler had sold or redistributed all of the vehicle inventory from the 789 dealers it terminated in bankruptcy. Chrysler had offered no appeals.

Some dealers have said Chrysler applied severe pressure earlier in 2009 to buy vehicles even though sales were weak and the automaker's prospects were fast deteriorating. Chrysler filed for bankruptcy on April 30.

Lawmakers asked Press about a phone call in which he told dealers that Chrysler would have a "long memory" if they did not help the manufacturer.