May 19, 2009 3 min read

Paul Ereditario says he is the only one so far to “admit that I’m on the list” of dealers that General Motors will terminate at the end of 2010. Owner of Victory Chevrolet on Route 119 near Connellsville, Ereditario said GM notified him that it will end its association with him when his contract expires in October next year. General Motors Corp. on Friday told about 1,100 U.S. dealers their franchises will be terminated late next year. The cuts are part of a larger GM plan to slash 2,600 of its 6,200 dealerships as the automaker tries to restructure to become profitable again. The moves likely will cause the loss of thousands of jobs across the nation. Governments will lose thousands of dollars in tax revenue as dealerships are forced to close.

“This sure makes life interesting,” Ereditario said. “This doesn’t happen until next year, so that’s why no one will admit to being on the list.”

GM did not announce dealers that it had sent letters to, instead allowing the dealers to make the announcements.

Ereditario said the poor economy contributed to the situation.

“Business hasn’t been very good,” he said. “I used to have 20 people here. Now I have five.”

Upset with GM, he added the action “is just ludicrous in my eyes. It doesn’t cost them that much to have dealers. In the meantime, the manufacturers are going to lose market share. People aren’t going to travel to buy their new GM (vehicle).”

When asked what he might do after October 2010, Ereditario said he wasn’t sure.

“I have too much overhead here for it to be feasible to become a used car business.

There is an appeal process, he said, adding that GM is “in violation of the state franchise laws.

“But GM is telling us if we sue or appeal it will just file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and then they can get rid of us. That’s some appeal.”

Bruce Detweiler, owner of Phil Detweiler Inc. of Masontown, which sells Pontiac, Buick and GMC, said his agency is not on the termination list. He said GM based its decision of which dealers to cut according to state sales averages.

“Since they aren’t in bankruptcy, they can’t wipe out dealers for no reason without getting into the state franchise laws,” he said.

“We are still operating and have been for 85 years and I’m glad to say that,” said Frank Martin, owner of Fike Chevrolet Co. of Masontown.

“In this thriving corner of the world, business is still good and we look forward to taking care of our customers,” he said.

A spokesman at C. Harper said the agency is not on the list. A call made to Day Centennial of Uniontown Monroeville’s main office was not returned as of press time.