Photo by Graham Cullen Chrysler LLC plans to cut 789 dealers, about 25 percent of its total retail sites. Among those on the list are Don Phillips Jeep and Fitzgerald Auto Mall (Dodge) in Frederick.

Tom Wilkinson, a spokesman for General Motors, said that dealerships would be notified confidentially and no list would be made public. GM plans to cut or consolidate 2,400 dealerships nationwide.

Kathy Graham, a spokeswoman for Chrysler, said the company plans to cut 789 dealers, about 25 percent of its total retail sites. Among those on the list are Don Phillips Jeep and Fitzgerald Auto Mall (Dodge) in Frederick . In all, 17 Maryland dealerships are slated to stop selling Chrysler, Dodge and/or Jeep vehicles by June 9.

"My main concern is to let people know this is just a list," said Robert Phillips, general manager of the Jeep dealership on Rosemont Avenue.

"We're not going out and locking the door," he said. "It will be business as usual, selling and servicing cars."

Phillips said the elimination of dealerships would only create a drop in revenue for the economy. Movement is already under way to approach the issue from a legal standpoint at the national and state levels. "Plus dealers may have their own legal counsels to fight this."

Phillips said Chrysler does not have the power to close a dealership. That would be something for the bankruptcy court to look at.

Jack Fitzgerald, president of several dealerships, said closing stores made no sense. "They are using government money to make us smaller."

Fitzgerald, who began his career in the 1950s as a Dodge dealer, said auto businesses are selling cars, working employees and helping the economy.

"The numbers don't make sense," Fitzgerald said. "In the 1950s we had 41,000 dealerships, today we have half that. But they are needed to serve customers, to sell cars. We've been doing something right. We've made money, worked people. If the industry wants to survive, it needs to reach out to people."

Sam Hall, general manager and vice president at Tate Chrysler in Frederick , said he was sad to see the decision. "I've known these dealers for a long time."

Chrysler's future plans to eliminate many models from the three-brand lineups would make it difficult for dealers to survive without consolidation, Hall said.

If Tate is chosen for the consolidation point, Hall said his dealership has space for expansion.

Joe DiGiorgi, managing partner at Century Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ford in Mount Airy , said the dealer cuts were something that needed to be done.

"It is not something new," he said. "Chrysler was talking about this in 2007, said there would be cuts."

With the industry down and sales sluggish, it made sense to cut dealerships, he said. "There will still be Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep representation in Frederick ."

Wilkinson said some of the elimination from GM dealers will come from attrition in the marketplace, as well as the sale of Hummer, Saab and Saturn. "And there will be some that we will simply be ending our business relationships with."

Even those that remain in business will be "winding down," with the economy, Wilkinson said.

General Motors will continue to produce a mix of vehicles, Wilkinson said, from small, fuel-efficient cars to large trucks, but the vehicles will get better mileage to meet federal guidelines.

One issue noted by Pete Adcock, owner of FSK Lincoln-Mercury-Volvo-Audi, was the future of trucks. "If you notice, there is not much advertisement about GMC (the truck line for GM). The emphasis is on Chevrolet, so you are going to have one truck line."

Adcock said it would make sense, noting that Ford, which has the best-selling F-150 truck, introduced a Lincoln version for several years. "Even dealers who benefited from the limited sales of the Lincoln knew it was never in Ford's best interest to make them."

Katie Jones, spokeswoman for the Maryland Auto Dealers Association, said consumers may have the mistaken idea that if a dealership closes, another will simply hire the technicians and move the inventory.

She said that is not the case and the closing will lead to job loss and additional inventory of unsold vehicles.

"It will have a lasting impact," Jones said. Many Maryland residents don't realize that dealerships contribute heavily to charitable organizations. "They are a major contributor to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation."

Auto dealers represent 20 percent of retail sales in Maryland, Jones said, providing business and property taxes, as well as payroll taxes.

"We don't have the monetary impact number for Chrysler dealers yet," Jones said Thursday, "but the planned closings of General Motors (nationally) will mean a loss of $30 billion overnight."

The Maryland association has attorneys and other professionals to help dealers, Jones said, but it will come down to what works best for them to work out closings or consolidations.

Adcock said he anticipates the smaller dealerships to close. "If a dealership is in a town, rather than a city, it most likely will go -- unless there are no other dealerships within 50 to 100 miles of it."

Adcock said when he phased out Isuzu from his dealership it followed the Oldsmobile model of elimination. Isuzu stopped sending vehicles to the U.S., and the Japanese automaker paid out the franchise fee based on the last two years of car sales. He said that would be a likely scenario for the dealerships to be eliminated.

"Since the government has oversight on this, I think that philosophy is fair," Adcock said.

Dealers who try to fight the closeout in court would face a giant obstacle. With the government behind the manufacturers, Adcock said it is doubtful an attorney would take on the task.

"Many dealers are going to end up giving away or selling for a very reduced price what they have worked for," he said.

Stronger dealers will buy out weaker ones, either by choice or on the direction of the automakers, he said.

Emphasizing that he was giving his personal viewpoint, not necessarily that of the auto dealers organization or other dealers, Adcock said the government never should have bailed out the auto industry.

"Private capital has made this a strong country," Adcock said. "We (auto dealers) are no different than any other retail business and there have been closings and mergers and cutbacks in all businesses."