
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 15, 1995                   TAG: 9509150085
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DETROIT                                LENGTH: Short

GM PLANS TO CUT 1,500 DEALERS

General Motors Corp. said Thursday it plans to eliminate about 1,500 of its 8,500 dealers under a plan to consolidate its dealership network.

GM spokesman Tom Klipstine said the plan was previously announced as part of the automaker's Project 2000, which seeks to move dealerships closer to where customers live. GM didn't disclose how many dealers would be affected until Thursday.

Its goal to prune the number of dealerships and combine others doesn't have an exact date of completion.

GM is considering asking its strongest dealers to buy out others, but that plan could be hampered by state franchising laws.

``I'm sure there are some legal issues out there, but we have to work with the law,'' Klipstine said. ``With 8,500 dealerships, each situation is going to be different.''

GM has about 22,150 individual franchises representing the automaker's seven divisions. Often more than one franchise is combined in a single dealership. GM's divisions are Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, GMC and Saturn.

AP-DS-09-14-95 1848E

by CNB