What does it take to pass one of the most important franchise bills in the history of our Association?
- Years of preparation at the FADA Board table
- Committed Officers and Directors and a seasoned veteran Legislative Chairman
- An alliance with all of Florida’s major dealer groups – AutoNation, South and Vista Motors, Braman Management, Morgan Automotive and our other public dealer groups
- Local dealer meetings around the state with local legislators
- Artful work by our legal team drafting language and amendments
- Excellent strategic work by our lobby team and several large dealer group’s lobbyists
- New growth in member contributions to CAR-PAC enabling FADA’s support of leadership
- Local dealer engagement with local legislators and the Governor after passage
HB 637 will take effect on July 1, 2023, and here is what this new law does for you:
- Protects your important investments in your brick/mortar as well as your digital market for your customers
- Legacy manufacturers will not be able to own directly or through a common entity or subsidiary a dealership if they have been a franchisor with independent dealers
- Protects your important sales functions that have been and are the natural province of the dealer – pricing and vehicle valuations
- Prohibits OEMs from requiring that all reservations be made through the direct OEM digital platform
- Dealer reservations will essentially become leads and you will continue to negotiate the terms of the sale
- Requires dealers to allocate EVs to dealers and further defines unfair allocations
- Prohibits an OEM from requiring you to sell a vehicle at a particular price
- Prohibits an automaker from basing allocations on the number of vehicles pre-ordered or reserved
- Requires manufacturers to compensate dealers for the remote sale of temporary features or improvements for two years at 8% for the original owner only
- Allows FADA to make inquiries to the DMV when a factory appears to have violated a franchise law and the DMV must take action if it finds a provision has been violated.
Congratulations FADA members! This is easily one of the most important franchise bill passed in the history of FADA. It is testimony to all of you who are so invested in this great Association! A huge congratulations to our outgoing Legislative Chairman Ted Serbousek, who has been our leader for 6 years and expended more hours than I can count on behalf of our members.
Please join us in calling and thanking both your local legislators and Governor DeSantis.
Office of Governor Ron DeSantis
State of Florida, The Capitol, 400 S. Monroe St., Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
(850) 717-9337