Berrang: I’m not losing GM franchise

Pat Berrang, owner of Berrang Pontiac-Cadillac-GMC in Waynesboro, said Saturday that he has not lost his General Motors franchise, and said if GM attempts to take it he will appeal.

Berrang said he received a letter from GM on Friday indicating that the manufacturer was “considering” non-renewal of the franchise in October 2010.

But Berrang said the decision by GM is not final, and said he will fight any attempt by GM to take the franchise away.

Until October 2010, Berrang said his dealership will continue to offer total GM sales and service. And Berrang expects the agreement with GM to continue.

“If GM elects not to renew the franchise, we will vigorously appeal under the franchise laws agreement,” he said. The franchise laws agreement is part of Virginia state law.

Berrang said his intention is to continue to be a GM dealer “as long as GM is a viable company.”

GM sent letters to dealers across the county on Friday as part of a consolidation plan that could eventually result in 1,100 dealers losing their franchises. The loss of franchises is part of a plan by GM to shed 25 percent of its sales network.

Berrang, along with Paul Obaugh Ford in Staunton, were notified earlier last week by Chrysler that they will no longer be allowed to sell or provide warranty service for Chrysler products after June 9.

The letters sent by Chrysler and GM were distinctly different, Berrang said. Chrysler’s letter, he said, indicated that, as of June 9, his business would no longer be a Chrysler-Dodge Jeep dealer.

“They said they would not give us an agreement from the new Chrysler that will emerge from bankruptcy,” he said. Berrang added that the GM letter indicated considerations, but did not say, “You are no longer a dealer.”

Berrang opened a Pontiac-Cadillac-Oldsmobile-GMC Truck dealership on West Main Street in Waynesboro in June 1977. The dealership moved to a new location on Lew DeWitt Boulevard in July 2006.

A Friday release by the U.S. Treasury Department said that the restructuring by Chrysler and GM “will not only provide more stability and certainty for current employees but the prospect for future employment growth.”