A new bill was crafted by House leaders over the weekend that is aimed at providing better third-party arbitration for rejected GM and Chrysler dealerships. The new bill differs from last week’s offering due to the addition of more favorable circumstances for the dealerships.
As explained by AutomotiveNews, the bill is intended to give dealers the ability to “present any kind of relevant information during arbitration.”
The arbitrator would then consider the dealer’s profitability, past experience, current economic viability as well as geography and demography of the local market.
The bill says, “The arbitrator shall balance the interests of the covered dealership, the covered manufacturer and the public and shall decide, based on that balancing, whether or not the covered dealership should be reinstated.”
The goal for the bill is to have it arrive ready for President Obama’s approval before Christmas recess, a House aide said. But before the bill can make it to the President, it must first pass the Senate.
The bill is currently on the way to Senate leaders for consideration, and assuming it is approved in some form, it will then be attached to a financial-services spending bill in a congressional conference committee formed to resolve inconsistencies between House and Senate bills.
The National Automobile Dealership Association has worked alongside the House staff in order to create the latest version of the bill.
NADA said, “The revisions reflect the goals pursued by NADA for the past several months on dealer rights.”
“We want to get dealers back in business, and this appears to be our best chance to capitalize on the efforts of our congressional leaders and all dealers across America,” said Tammy Darvish of NADA.
