Bend dealer goes to Capitol Hill to protest GM cut

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Bend dealer whose family has been selling cars in Central Oregon for 93 years testified on Capitol Hill on Friday against plans by big automakers to cut dealerships, calling for reason in a time of turbulence.

Bob Thomas, who received notice that his Chevrolet and Cadillac franchise was among those that will end, appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight and investigations subcommittee, as did executives from General Motors and Chrysler.

The lawmakers were reviewing the closing of 789 Chrysler dealerships and plans by GM to cut about 1,350 by the end of next year. Both companies are reorganizing under bankruptcy protection.

GM's chief executive, Fritz Henderson, said in prepared remarks the dealer cuts were painful but necessary to preserve jobs at GM's remaining dealers. Chrysler's deputy chief executive, Jim Press, said the cuts were needed to save the company.

Thomas was among several dealers to speak.

"What I would hope for in such dire straights would be a request of reason," he said. "Allow us to provide support for those GM customers in our region and relieve us of the inventory obligations we incurred in good faith by repurchasing what we paid."

Thomas recalled day last month when he said he received a vague and unsigned letter from GM about his dealership. On June 2, Thomas received a "Wind Down Agreement" that will effectively close the business.

Thomas described how his family had established the Central Oregon dealership in 1916. He assumed the dealership in 1982.

"We have been GM to our community," he said. "Now, it is a dark time when GM must abandon our town, our region and us," he said.

In Oregon, there are 21 General Motors dealerships whose franchise agreements are not expected to be renewed by GM by the fall of 2010. The list was released by the House subcommittee. GM has declined to identify individual dealerships.

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., is a ranking member of the subcommittee. He pointed to the Bend dealership in his statement.

"Do the planners behind this restructuring understand the rural America where I come from? Do they really understand rural customers, the rural market?" Walden asked. "Let's talk plainly — if you just want to turn GM and Chrysler into a network of urban dealerships, then tell me, but don't ask me and my constituents to bail you out."

GM CEO Fritz Henderson told the panel that the dealer cuts were "quite painful" but necessary to preserve over 200,000 jobs at GM's remaining dealers, while Chrysler Deputy CEO Jim Press said the cuts were part of the shared sacrifices by the United Auto Workers union, bondholders and others needed to save the company.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.