Dealer regains Cadillac brand

Foreman-Blair credits action in Congress for getting the Springfield franchise reinstated.

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By Elaine Morris Roberts, Staff Writer Updated 10:35 PM Friday, March 12, 2010

SPRINGFIELD — After months of uncertainty, the fate of Springfield’s Cadillac dealership has been decided, and the news is good.

Dean Blair, co-owner of Foreman-Blair Buick/GMC/Cadillac, 242 E. Columbia St., received the official letter from General Motors offering reinstatement Friday, March 12.

“The letter is here, and we just need to sign it, which we will do,” Blair said, adding the reinstatement process should take two to three weeks.

The 35-year-old dealership lost its Cadillac franchise last summer when GM named more than 1,300 dealerships and franchises to be closed nationwide in a cost-cutting effort.

“We were slated to remain a Cadillac dealer until October of this year, so this will allow for zero interruption in our sales and service,” he said.

Blair said the reinstatement would not have been possible without the action taken in Congress in December that forced GM to participate in arbitration.

“They gave us the opportunity and the right for arbitration,” he said.

The law creating the arbitration process was included in the Fiscal Year 2010 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill, providing protection for automobile dealers targeted for closure by General Motors and Chrysler.

The team that pushed for national arbitration included Tim Doran, president of the Ohio Automobile Dealers Association and chairman of Automotive Trade Association Executives.

“Tim Doran led the charge for the U.S.,” Blair said. “Dealers all over the country are benefitting from his hard work.”

Earlier this month, GM executives announced that 661 dealerships — more than half of the 1,100 seeking to stay with the automaker — would receive letters giving them the option to remain open.

The company said it made the decision because it would not have ample time to negotiate with all of the dealerships within the four-month window imposed by the federal government.

The hard work of Foreman-Blair’s staff made the reinstatement possible, Blair said, because dealers were evaluated on criteria including economic viability, sales and service performance and customer satisfaction.

“We received extremely high marks because of their dedication, and that’s what made this happen,” he said.

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