Tennessee Dealers Invited to be Part of New GM

Owners of Wilson County Motors in Lebanon breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday as they opened a FedEx delivery from GM. Dealers that didn’t receive separation letters two weeks ago have still been unsure if they will be included in a leaner GM.

Wilson County Motors has been identified, according to the GM letter, as a “key dealer.”

Co-owner Paine Bone says customers have been asking if the 82-year-old Chevy dealership is sticking around. Now he can respond with confidence.

“We’re telling them yes, but this letter gives us something we can show people that says we’re part of the new GM.”

The letters delivered Monday do require dealers to take on more inventory and hit increased sales benchmarks.

Nationwide, the 1,100 dealers cut by GM, roughly 25% of the total, do not have to publicly disclose their status. The separation doesn’t occur until October of 2010.