More than 600 General Motors Co. dealers seeking franchise reinstatement have been notified that they are on the automaker's list to remain open, The Detroit News reported.

Alan Spitzer, head of the Committee to Restore Dealer Rights, said most of those contacted by GM were rural dealers or Cadillac franchisees.

GM said Friday it planned to send letters of intent to restore the franchises of 661 of the 1,160 dealers that were appealing orders to close. By Monday afternoon, GM said it had notified all of those dealers by phone.

"They will receive their actual letters by the end of this week," said GM spokeswoman Ryndee Carney. "It's up to them how quickly they move now."

Spitzer said terms of reinstatement would include providing proof that the dealership had secured the necessary location, facilities, financing and working capital to operate.

He said dealers who asked for specifics Monday were told that the terms would be the same ones they would be bound by if they prevailed in arbitration, a fact confirmed by GM.

Jim Eagan, an automotive consultant with Plante & Moran PLLC, said some dealers will find it difficult to meet those requirements, given the tough economy.

"The floor plan financing and working capital financing are going to be difficult to obtain unless the borrower has a strong balance sheet," he said. "But many of the dealers who filed for arbitration fervently felt that they were capable of continuing."

Spitzer praised GM's move and urged Chrysler Group LLC to extend a similar offer to the 789 dealers it ordered to close during its bankruptcy. He also urged GM not to turn its back on the rest of the dealers who lost their franchises.

"We're hoping that GM will do the right thing, which is to reinstate them all if they want to come back," he said. GM and Chrysler were able to tear up franchise agreements with thousands of dealers after seeking Chapter 11 protection in 2009. GM alone planned to close more than 2,000 dealers by October, but that was before Congress passed a new law in December that gave dealers the right to challenge those decisions through binding arbitration.

Chrysler said it would stick with its plans for arbitration for the fewer than 400 dealers that have begun that process.