Chrysler made the difficult (and controversial) decision in 2009 to close 789 dealerships leading up to the automaker's abbreviated bankruptcy. The move helped Chrysler eliminate some redundancies and limit in-brand competition, but many of the dealers who lost their franchises weren't at all pleased with the move.

It didn't take long for many of those dealers to sue Chrysler for the right to stay in business, and the court cases are still being settled in 2012. The Detroit News is reporting that a federal judge has ruled that Chrysler doesn't have to immediately reinstate eight dealers suing for the right to reopen their doors.

The eight dealers are among 82 that received arbitration after the forced closings. Fifty of those dealers were offered arbitration by Chrysler and another 32 retail outlets won arbitration in court. The arbitration didn't give those dealers the rights to re-open immediately, but it does set up boundaries to discuss agreeable terms for reopening.

While Chrysler can probably count this decision as a victory of sorts, the automaker still has 11 more lawsuits from U.S. dealers. So far, only 43 of the 789 dealers have been fully reinstated, and another 14 are still negotiating.Judge says Chrysler doesn't have to reinstate closed dealers originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.


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