WANADA Leadership Meets With Top DC Official To Explore Expanded Business Opportunities
As late as the 1960s, there were nearly 50 new car dealerships in the District of Columbia. Today there are three Curtis Chevrolet on Georgia Avenue and Chevy Chase Buick-Hyundai and Martens Cars of Washington (Volvo-VW) on Wisconsin Avenue. There are many factors that led to the exodus from the city by dealers, not the least of which was the generally anti-business mentality that prevailed among city officials for years.
With the election of Mayor Anthony Williams, that attitude has reportedly changed. The Williamsê administration has advocated a decidedly more business-friendly approach in an apparently forthright attempt to strengthen the cityês economic base. In fact, when WANADA moved back to DC, Mayor Williams himself called to welcome the association back.
To test the waters of change and see if Washington, as being promoted, was really open for business, a delegation of DC dealers and WANADA leadership met recently with Eric Price, DCês deputy mayor for economic development, to discuss concerns and explore opportunities to bring new car dealerships back to the city.
Of particular interest was the potential for opening downtown dealerships based on the continental model common in Paris, London and other large European cities, which features quality vehicle showrooms included in a mix of retail establishments.
The constructive conversation with Price also included the possibility of relaxing some of DCês draconian regulations on the books, such as the cityês limits on finance contract self- help remedies and no old vehicle exceptions to the implied warranty laws. Also discussed were the lack of franchise protection laws in DC, and the need for more dialogue with city officials that, hopefully, could result in the creation of policies to encourage entrepreneurial investment.
WANADA Executive Committee member Dudley Dworken of Curtis Chevrolet described the meeting as very constructive, and a first step in what we hope will be a continuing dialogue on these matters. As a result of this meeting, we are drafting a list of things we believe can be done to make DC more appealing to the auto business.
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