TORONTO — A group of Canadian General Motors dealerships is suing the company in an attempt to keep their businesses open.
The twelve dealerships named in the suit are among the 240 to 250 stores GM Canada plans to close within the next year.
They allege GM breached a contract that the company promised to renew as long as the dealerships met certain performance expectations.
Robert Slessor Pontiac Buick in Grimsby, Ont., is one of the dealerships involved in the suit, and Slessor says his business has exceeded the expectations laid out in the contract.
He says the business has been in the family since the 1950s and he is determined not to lose it.
GM plans to eliminate more than one-third of its Canadian dealerships by October 2010 in an attempt to cut costs and streamline its business.