2023 NADC Annual Member Conference
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April 30 - May 2, 2023
The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island
Amelia Island, FL
Speakers: Andrew Koblenz, NADA and Paul Metrey, NADA
During this session, NADA Executives Andy Koblenz and Paul Metrey will highlight salient and breaking federal regulatory developments affecting dealers on a range of topics including NADA’s principles to guide the future of auto retailing, federal legislation, the FTC’s Proposed Vehicle Shopping Rule, other significant rulemakings, recent enforcement actions and related compliance issues, and more.
Speakers:
- Johnnie Brown, Pullin, Fowler, Flanagan, Brown & Poe, PLLC
- Eric Chase, Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C.
Eric Chase and Johnnie Brown discussed selected leading topics in the law for car dealers during 2023 and discussed them interactively with the members. They provided useful and practical commentary, suggesting ways for dealers to address several of the challenges 2023 is likely to bring. A handout included the Defender publication of Eric Chase’s top trends article published in January 2023. As in the past, the presentation included important developments arising in the first few months of 2023, so that the information was as current as possible.
Speakers:
- Anthony Bento, CNCDA
- Michael McMahan, ArentFox Schiff
Ford, JLR, and other manufacturers are using electric vehicles as an excuse to rewrite the franchise arrangement. Threats to the entire model are on the rise, and strong defense of our franchise laws are necessary. This session covered pending disputes, previewed upcoming disputes, and covered state laws that protect dealers.
Presentation
Speakers:
- Anthony Bento, CNCDA
- Kaye Lynch-Sparks, NADA
- Angelique Strong Marks, Cars.com
Over the past couple years, dealers have been hit with a wave of lawsuits alleging noncompliance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) due to the design of their websites. The ADA predates the commercial Internet and courts have struggled with how to apply the law to business websites; and the dynamic nature of dealership websites makes compliance difficult. This panel will provide an overview of the current state of the law on website accessibility and discuss compliance and defense strategies for dealer counsel.
Presentation
Supplemental Materials
Speakers:
- Andrea Amico, Privacy4Cars
- Eric Johnson, Hudson Cook, LLP
This Session will discuss the collection of and access to consumers’ personal information in a motor vehicle, who may be impacted by consumers’ personal information found in a motor vehicle, what laws and regulations may be impacted by such information collection, including the FTC’s Safeguards Rule, the potential penalties, litigation and enforcement for not following these laws and regulations, and recommended actions a motor
vehicle dealer should take with respect to a consumer’s personal information found in a motor vehicle.
Presentation
Supplemental Materials
Speakers:
- Paul Addison, The Fontana Group, Inc.
- Joseph Roesner, The Fontana Group, Inc.
- Ronald Smith, Stoll Keenon Ogden, PLLC
Historically, the most invalid and unreliable measurement utilized by manufacturers/Distributors (“Manufacturers”) the evaluation of dealership performance has been customer
satisfaction indices (“CSI”). It’s been so unreliable that, prior to the advent of incentive programs, Manufacturers paid little attention to the measurement as a predictor of dealership performance. Although the measurements resurfaced slightly during GM and Chrysler bankruptcy hearings, Manufacturers over the last five or so years have been attempting to re-establish the importance of CSI scores with the predictable result of penalizing dealers with an unreliable and invalid statistical program. These CSI scores are increasingly being used to the economic detriment of dealerships:
- As incentives which condition new vehicle margins received by the dealership (after reducing gross profit margins), e.g., various award programs with economic ties to CSI performance.
- Support or threaten termination actions against the dealership.
- Denial of succession plans or buy-sells.
This presentation includes:
- History and background on CSI measures.
- The different CSI measures employed by Manufacturers will include the recent increase of Manufacturer use of a measurement called Net Promoter Score – its features and fallacies.
- Incentive programs tied to CSI.
- Examples of punitive actions taken by Manufacturers that employ CSI scores.
- The manipulation of CSI scores (intentional or unintentional?).
- Applying statistical analyses to attack the design and application of CSI measures.
- Recommended courses of action for dealers going forward.
Presentation
Supplemental Materials
- Baehre et al., The Use of Net Promoter Score (NPS) to Predict Sales Growth
- Colvin, The simple metric that's taking over big business
- de Haan et al., Predictive ability of different customer feedback metrics for retention
- Keiningham et al., A Longitudinal Examination of Net Promoter and Firm Revenue Growth
- Larsen, Time to Drop NPS
- Love Promise Report (Redacted)
- McCollum-Gahley and Addison, NPS White Paper
- OLP Nuts and Bolts
- Survey Changes
- Unfair Practices IC 9-32-13-27
Speakers:
- Douglas Greenhaus, NADA
- Matthew Groves, CADA
Two dealer association experts described how an unprecedented array of federal and state mandates and incentives designed to “decarbonize” transportation are impacting the vehicles dealers sell, and even how, where, and when they may be operated. Learn how stricter emissions and fuel economy rules and EV and other alternative fuel requirements are changing how dealers interact with their household and commercial customers. Learn too how government investments and incentives from new federal tax credits to HOV lane access are also serving to drive change.
Speakers:
- Charles Gallaer, ArentFox Schiff
- Kenneth Rosenfield, Rosenfield and Company, PLLC
This session covered how to detect fraud and deal with the bank and manufacturer from a legal perspective. The speakers touched on bank fraud issues, manufacturer relations issues, employment issues, and insurance issues.
Presentation
Speakers:
- Justin Persaud, DSMA
- Michael Semanie, Killgore, Pearlman, Semanie, & Squires, P.A.
This session featured a discussion of curated topics related to the process of selling a dealership, with an emphasis on recently trending issues, including the expanding applicability of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, the growing prevalence of crossborder transactions, and a variety of tips on how to prepare the dealership for a sale.
Presentation
Supplemental Materials
Speakers:
- Johnnie Brown, Pullin, Fowler, Flanagan, Brown & Poe, PLLC
- Shari Patish, MileOne Autogroup
This program is an introduction to the dealership environment and the legal and regulatory issues dealership principals and managers are likely to encounter. It is designed for those attorneys relatively new to dealership operations and issues, or those more experienced attorneys who may be very knowledgeable about one legal area and wish to gain knowledge of other legal exposures faced by motor vehicle dealers. This session is part two of a three-part series for Dealer 101 and will focus on a general introduction to employment and human
resources exposures.