WASHINGTON (AP) -- General Motors and Chrysler are urging lawmakers to stop legislation that would prevent automakers from closing car dealerships that the dealers want to keep open, saying it would complicate their emergence from government-led bankruptcies.
The companies are closing nearly 3,000 dealerships as part of their bankruptcies, but the moves angered lawmakers pushing measures to restore the shuttered dealerships.
Late Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to force General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to restore franchise agreements with dealers as a condition of partial government ownership. The auto companies said it could threaten their viability plans. Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., said he would fight to save the amendment.
