SocraticGadfly: Dealership deals could doom Big Three ‘slimdown’

December 07, 2008

Dealership deals could doom Big Three ‘slimdown’

You may have already read a little bit about how state laws offer a high degree of protectionism to local auto dealers against manufacturers. Well, today’s Washington Post has a good in-depth explainer of the problem, starting with examples from here in DFW and Texas statewide.

Did you know dealers of the same brand here in Texas must be at least 15 miles apart? It’s that type of maze of legislation, on a state-by-state basis, through which GM in particular must wade.

And solutions will probably have dollar signs attached. For example, GM reportedly paid Oldsmobile dealers $1 billion to go away.

No comments: