The Big Two
have cut the number of their employees, benefits, factories, and executive salaries and dividends. Now executives of
The General and Blue Oval are considering reducing the number of their dealerships.
General Motors has over
7,000 dealerships for its Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer, Pontiac, and Saturn brands in the U.S. (Saab
excluded), while the Ford Motor Company has around 4,400 dealerships. The linked article compares both to Toyota
Motor Co. which currently has 1,430 dealerships. While a Ford dealership may sell 780 vehicles on average, a Toyota
dealership sells nearly twice as many.
Neither GM or Ford gave specific details on how either would reduce
its dealership network. GM in particular was vague, after recently announcing the need to keep all of its brands.
[Source: Associated
Press via The Mercury News]