86 closed Chrysler dealers given reprieves

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., March 26 (UPI) -- Chrysler Group LLC said Friday it offered 86 closed U.S. dealerships the chance to reopen.

Chrysler closed nearly 800 dealerships -- about a quarter of its total -- in 2009, as it restructured itself during a bankruptcy process. Congress, however, mandated that the company create an arbitration procedure so individual dealerships could appeal the decisions.

Chrysler said 50 dealerships in arbitration would be sent letters offering them a chance to be reinstated. The company also confirmed it had sent 36 letters of intent to dealerships earlier, the Detroit Free Press reported.

About 400 dealerships appealed the decision to close their stores. The letters sent Friday were "an effort to find a mutually beneficial resolution in situations that make sense for the customer, the dealer and the company," Chrysler said.

The automaker also said, "Discussions to find mutually beneficial alternatives to arbitration with the other dealers are under way."

Chrysler has filed lawsuits in Illinois, Maine, North Carolina and Oregon to block state governments from forcing them to reopen the dealerships it closed.