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Oldsmobile Dealers, GM Remain at Odds

By Kevin Adler
July 28, 2005

Some Oldsmobile franchisee-dealers remain dissatisfied with the financial settlements offered by General Motors Corp. (“GM”) as compensation for GM's decision in December 2000 to phase out its Oldsmobile product line. Of the approximately 2800 Oldsmobile dealers who were operating when GM announced its phase out, fewer than 100 have not come to an agreement with GM, according to the automaker. Although numerous lawsuits have been filed in the past 2 1/2 years and some remain active, none have gone to trial so far.

The disputes began when GM announced that it would stop producing the Oldsmobiles, due to declining market share, and offered buyouts to all of its approximately 2800 Olds dealers across the United States. In 2001, GM announced a buyout, called the Transitional Finance Assistance Program (“TFAP”), which would pay most dealers a lump sum equal to $1200 for each car the dealership sold in its best year during the period 1998-2000. For a dealer who had only an Olds dealership, which represented fewer than 150 businesses, the multiple was raised to $3000 per vehicle sold. A few other compensating factors, such as proof that a dealer recently upgraded its showroom, could result in an increased TFAP offer.

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