Congressional Hearing Set on Dealer Rights Legislation

Congressional Hearing Set on Dealer Rights Legislation

With talks are on the way between a coalition of U.S. dealer organizations and Chrysler and General Motors to see if an agreement is possible in lieu of legislation before Congress to restore dealer rights, a Congressional hearing has been scheduled next Wednesday, October 15 before the House Judiciary Committee to see what direction the ongoing debate will take.

The Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), is one of several committees where HR 2743 can be reviewed prior to being acted upon by the entire House.

Rep. Conyers, a veteran congressman from Michigan with an obvious interest in the legislation and a high level of automotive expertise, has met with dealers as recently as this week regarding the unprecedented downsizing of Chrysler and GM dealer networks that occurred last spring.

The Judiciary Committee has reviewed the impact of the OEM bankruptcies on earlier occasions, but this would be the first time wherein dealer rights will be the principal focus.

Among the dealers who have spoken to Rep. Conyers are WANADA leaders Tamara Darvish, Jack Fitzgerald and Dick Patterson, who made the case to him that the ultimate recovery of the reorganized Chrysler and GM corporations depends upon each revisiting their dealer network reductions and restoring as many terminated dealers that are willing and able to come back.

NADA, along with sister associations across the U.S. that constitute the Automotive Trade Associations network (ATAE), the Committee to Restore Dealer Rights (CRDR) and the National Association of Minority Auto Dealers (NAMAD) joined together on a settlement proposal to the OEMs as an alternative to legislation. With the House Judiciary Committee poised to hold hearings next week on dealer rights, there are now 278 House cosponsors of HR 2743 and 42 Senate cosponsors of the companion bill, S 1304.