General Motors Corp. is preparing to take...

General Motors Corp. is preparing to take charge of $500 million in local advertising funds, transferring control from its dealer groups around the country to five regional directors, Automotive News reported. The move, similar to steps taken by Japanese auto makers in the U.S., could hurt the 60 advertising agencies that provide creative and media-buying services to the 750 dealer marketing groups, the paper said. GM, the world’s largest auto maker, is considering a program to continue routing some funds to each dealership’s ad budget, the weekly trade paper reported.