TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - General Motors Co.'s U.S. dealers are in the midst of the largest dealership facilities makeover in the company's history, CEO Ed Whitacre told the CAR Management Briefing Seminars.

He said 300 dealerships have been upgraded this year and 1,000 will have completed upgrades by year end, Automotive News reported.

He also said GM will have 4,500 U.S. dealerships as of Nov. 1, having concluded its arbitration with ousted stores.

In a statement, GM said it arbitrated with 62 U.S. dealerships. GM won 39 of the cases and dealerships won 23, said GM spokeswoman Ryndee Carney.

Whitacre said the dealership body will be about 25 percent smaller than before GM's bankruptcy last year. But it is the right size with the right dealerships for the four brands that GM now builds, he said.

His comments echoed dealership census projections released by GM in June. At the time, GM North America President Mark Reuss predicted GM would finish the year with between 4,500 and 5,000 U.S. dealerships. A GM spokesman later said the figure would be closer to 4,500 than 5,000.

In wide-ranging remarks, Whitacre also gave credit to former GM executives Rick Wagoner, Bob Lutz and Fritz Henderson for leaving good vehicles in the pipeline.

Whitacre said GM's vehicle lineup is driving sales and earnings increases.

He said the Chevrolet Cruze compact, which is rated 40 mpg on the highway, is the kind of breakthrough vehicle that GM is relying on for its future. The Cruze is due in showrooms in September.

Whitacre, who was the longtime chief of AT&T, said GM has such products to bring to market today because of the vision and work of his predecessors, including Wagoner, Henderson and Lutz.

He said he learned upon taking the helm of GM in December 2009 that “it takes years to bring a vehicle to market.”

Whitacre said GM can only succeed by keeping its sole focus on designing, building and selling the world's best vehicles.

“That's all we do,” he said.