AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Not surprisingly, Chrysler's Steven Landry came out this morning with a statement saying the automaker is sticking to its decision to cut 789 franchised dealers.

The executive vice president of North American marketing, parts and service explained that the company cannot complete its sale to Fiat as is, and if this doesn't go through, then all 3,181 in the dealer body will lose.

"In 2008, Chrysler dealerships did not make a profit. The average loss was $3,184 per dealer," he highlighted. "Chrysler is treating the rejected dealers fairly by assisting in the redistribution of remaining vehicle and parts inventory, paying incentive and warranty payments due.

"It was not an easy decision to ask the court to reject a portion of our dealer contracts, but the reality is Chrysler's viability depends on a vibrant, profitable dealer network," he continued. "As presently configured, Chrysler's dealer network does not meet that test. If the sale to Fiat is not approved by the Bankruptcy Court, the stark reality is all 3,181 dealers will face elimination."

The process to evaluate dealers was "a thorough, rigorous process that used a data-driven metric that included the following factors," which Landry said included:

—Minimum sales responsibility

—A scorecard that measured sales, share, shipments, customer satisfaction index, service satisfaction index and warranty repair

—Facility (capacity, Millennium II standards)

—Location (optimum retail area)

—Dual (Dealer is dualed with a competing manufacturer)

—The market's total sales potential.

"Under this plan, 2,392 dealers across the United States move forward with the new company. It doesn't mean that the 789 rejected dealers will close if this motion is approved by the court," Landry said.

For instance, he outlined the following:

—44 percent of the 789 "rejected" dealers are dualed with another (competing) new-vehicle franchise and can continue to sell those makes of vehicles.

—83 percent of the 789 "rejected" dealers sell more used than new vehicles; many of those dealers will continue selling and servicing pre-owned vehicles.

"Chrysler began the process to consolidate dealerships and locate all three brands under one roof more than 10 years ago. The company made the decision it was cost prohibitive to continue to manufacture and market overlapping products. Going forward, we will not do that, so it is critical the majority of our dealers offer customers all three brands under one roof," Landry concluded.