NEW YORK - May 14, 2009 - Chrysler LLC will close down 789 dealerships, or roughly 25% of the current number, according to a plan filed in bankruptcy court Thursday.

Chrysler had a total of 3,181 authorized dealers in operation at the time of its April 30 bankruptcy court filing, according to court filings. Just over half of that number accounted for more than 90% of Chrysler sales, according to the filing.

Chrysler does not believe closing these dealerships will adversely affect sales.

"After a period of time, and substantially improved marketing and investments, overall sales in the reduced network are anticipated to grow beyond current sales levels within the existing network," the carmaker said in its filing.

General Motors has said it wants to cut 42% of its dealership base to 3,600 by next year. Fritz Henderson, the GM chief executive, said on Monday that it would soon start notifying dealers as soon as this week.