By Gretchen Millich, WKAR Radio
East Lansing, MI – East Lansing, MI (WKAR)
A GM car dealer in Okemos says he expects several car dealerships in mid-Michigan will get bad news from General Motors Friday. General Motors is thinning the ranks of dealerships nationwide to make those remaining more profitable.
Matt Sloan is general manager of Graff Chevrolet in Okemos. He's optimistic that his sales agreement with G-M will be renewed. But still, Sloan is a little nervous: "I would not be surprised if we see at least what we consider mid-Michigan, the Lansing-Jackson type area, I think we'll lose probably two maybe three Chevy dealerships alone. And then of course, there'll be some Buick and GMC, Cadillac and all of those."
GM sent letters Thursday to a 1,000 to 1,200 dealerships. The company plans to eventually cut more than 2,600 hundred dealers by next year.