On Friday, a day when more than 1,000 car dealerships were informed by General Motors Corp. their agreements with the Detroit automoker would not be renewed, Motor Inn Co. and Flaherty Auto & Truck Centers were spared.

David Christensen, owner of Motor Inn Co. on East Main Street in Albert Lea, said the dealerships GM believed it could no longer have a relationship with were informed Friday morning by a message delivered via Fed Ex.

Motor Inn and Flaherty Auto & Truck Centers managers confirmed Friday they were not cut. Flaherty is on North Bridge Avenue in Albert Lea

Christensen didn’t expect to receive such a letter and wasn’t surprised that his company will continue their relationship with GM.

“I didn’t feel that we would, but then again, you never know,” Christensen said.

Christensen said GM, of course, isn’t closing; it’s just reorganizing, and so the dealerships will continue operating. He also said the dealerships that received a letter Friday morning will not be closing right away; these dealerships were just informed they would not be renewed as GM dealers on Sept. 1, 2010. They can still sell other car brands.

Motor Inn doesn’t strictly sell GM vehicles, and Christensen said Motor Inn also sells Hondas and used vehicles. Many dealerships operate this way, so losing the agreement with GM doesn’t necessarily mean a dealership will close its doors.

Christensen said he’s seen his business improve in recent months, and he’s confident GM and its remaining dealerships will begin to get stronger.

“Our business has definitely picked up since the first of March,” Christensen said. “That part we feel pretty good about.”

Christensen said it’s too bad to get attention for something like this, and he compared it to waiting outside an operating room to see if the patient dies. He said he hasn’t heard anything about other dealerships that might be affected.

Despite the recent struggles, Christensen wants customers to know Motor Inn intends to continue to be a strong company.

“We’ve been here for 101 years and we’re planning to be here for quite a bit longer,” Christensen said.

Motor Inn sells the GM brands of Buick, Pontiac, Cadillac and GMC.

Flaherty sells the GM brands of Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac and GMC.

Dave Syverson Auto Mall on East Main Street in Albert Lea doesn’t sell GM products, but it does sell Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge in addition to Ford, Lincoln Mercury, Nissan and Volkswagen.

Chrysler on Thursday announced it would end 800 dealer relationships nationwide. Of those, 18 were in Minnesota, mostly in smaller cities or places where dealers were deemed too close. The list of dealers was made public during bankruptcy court filings.

Dave Syverson Auto Mall wasn’t on the list. It remains a Chrysler dealer.