June 30, 2016 — Today, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration took the unusual step of warning the public not to drive certain 2001 – 2003 Honda and Acura vehicles, due to the high likelihood of their Takata-made airbag inflators exploding in a crash. The agency says that within laboratory settings, the inflators have a 50% chance… Continue Reading
(UPDATED June 30 with dealer information) June 28, 2016 — Volkswagen is expected to announce settlements with U.S. regulatory agencies and 475,000 customers for lying about its diesel emissions today that could exceed $15 billion. According to numerous media reports, the deal only affects the 475,000 customers that purchased 2009 – 2015 2.0 liter diesel Volkswagen…
May 19, 2016 — Here’s some potentially good news for those of you sitting on patents that you’ve done nothing with — someone may want to buy those old patents. Over a two week period from May 25th to June 8th, patent owners can submit their patents to a special portal set up by Allied Security… Continue Reading
May 10, 2016 –In an intriguing decision last week, the New York’s Court of Appeals determined in a 5 – 1 decision that General Motors’ use of its Retail Sales Index to evaluate its dealers’ sales performance violates state law. The ruling could force manufacturers to change how they measure their dealers’ retail performance. GM used the RSI In 2011 in… Continue Reading
April 10, 2016 — On Wednesday, Ed Napleton, owner of one of the largest dealer groups in the country, filed a lawsuit against Volkswagen alleging the automaker engaged in criminal racketeering. Napleton owns three Volkswagen dealerships acquiring the Urbana, IL store three days before the diesel emissions scandal exploded in September. Napleton also claims the manufacturer… Continue Reading
March 10, 2016 — The blows keep coming for Volkswagen dealers in the U.S., who lost a key ally yesterday with executive Michael Horn’s sudden departure. According to a statement from Volkswagen, Horn, who had been CEO Volkswagen Group of America for nearly two years, is leaving the company immediately to pursue other interests. His exit is… Continue Reading
February 26, 2016 — Tesla has won its latest battle fighting state franchise law designed to keep it from selling vehicles to consumers. at least for a few months. The Indiana Senate Commerce and Technology Committee decided yesterday to send a controversial bill banning manufacturer-direct automotive sales to customers to an interim study committee later this year. House… Continue Reading
January 28, 2016 — The nearly three-year patent dispute between Westlake Financial and the Credit Acceptance Corporation is finally over. And the news wasn’t good for CAC as the Patent Trial and Review Board ruled this week that several claims it makes regarding the disputed patent fall under the Cover Business Method (CBM) classification, essentially…
January 15, 2016 — Following several months of negotiations, Cox Automotive and CDK Global finally signed an agreement today securing Cox’s participation in CDK’s Third-Party Access (3PA) Program. The agreementt should eliminate any uncertainty in the market about whether Cox’s solutions would be able to integrate with CDK’s dealer management systems (DMS). The agreement also standardizes… Continue Reading
January 15, 2016 — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles came out fighting late yesterday in a strongly worded release rejecting the allegations of falsifying sales made in a civil lawsuit filed this week by dealer Ed Napleton. In the statement, FCA called the lawsuit “nothing more than the product of two disgruntled dealers who have failed to perform… Continue Reading
