Two years ago General Motors had 6,049 dealers spread across the United States. Now, post-bankruptcy, that number is down to 4,500 retail outlets. The cutback was to help GM’s bottom line while simultaneously bolstering sales and profits at the remaining dealerships, but has it worked? Read more after the jump…

In 2010, GM dealers are doing much better than they were in 2009, as the company’s overall sales are up six percent. GM is selling six percent more vehicles without Pontiac, Hummer, Saab and Saturn, and the remaining dealers are doing better. But the biggest winners of GM’s dealer cutback aren’t the large dealerships. In fact, the remaining small-town dealers are doing better.

GM spokesperson Ryndee Carney says that the surviving dealers have a reported 6.7 million customers up for grabs; people who either own a GM vehicle from one of the defunct brands or purchased from a dealership that no longer exists. That’s a lot of potential warranty, service and trade-in cash waiting to be had. To ensure that these customers know where their nearby dealerships are, GM has been mailing out notices with service coupons and other dealer info. Dealers themselves are also doing legwork to pick up orphaned customers, picking up out-of-work salespeople who bring their client lists with them.
The one thing that the entire dealer body would benefit from is a stronger auto market, but that doesn’t appear as though it’ll happen anytime soon.