General Motors of Canada has told about two in every five of its dealers that their relationships with the automaker will end by October 2010.
Many are expected to close this year, in a retail pullback affecting as many as 10,000 jobs.
GM sent emails yesterday to about 245 of its 709 Canadian dealerships, and ongoing consolidation is expected to increase the number of shuttered locations further by the end of 2010.
Spokesman Stew Low said the automaker would not publicly identify dealers facing the axe, but he said they are primarily in large cities.
GM has five-year sales and service agreements with its dealers which all expire in October 2010, but “a good portion of the dealers will be wound up by the end of this year,” Low said.
The announcement followed termination notifications to 1,100 U.S. dealers last week and comes as it continues talks to take concessions from its Canadian unionized workforce.
