Fellow dealers and ATAEs,
During the course of 2023, while serving as NADA vice chairman, I was very fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to visit many states, and have engaged in discussions with many dealers and dealer representatives about both the national and individual state-level issues they were facing.
There is no shortage of obstacles to overcome and winding rivers to navigate, but I am energized, informed and ready to tackle everything that’s before us head-on.
My priorities as the 2024 NADA chairman are straightforward:
- Continue to work with the NADA professional staff, dealers and OEMs to protect and support the franchise system.
- Enhance dealer engagement and involvement.
- Further strengthen the working relationship between NADA and ATAE.
- Defend the auto retail industry against regulatory overreach.
Why are these my priorities? Because dealers, NADA, ATAEs and the manufacturers are the legs of the stool upon which the entire franchise sits. And the legs of this stool must be strong and balanced to support the considerable weight the franchise system must endure, especially today.
Challenges are coming at us from all different directions. In my 47 years in this business, I cannot think of a time when dealers have been pulled in so many directions and challenged on so many fronts.
I want you to know our NADA staff and dealers have been continually working on each of these priorities, and many more issues simultaneously. I look at my job as doing what I can to remind everyone that we will accomplish so much more by working with one another than not.
A few issues in particular will be coming to a head before we know it. In March, the Biden administration unveiled its long-awaited EV mandate. The facts on the ground do not lie. Electric inventory is climbing, and more than half of the EVs available for sale today do not qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit. The warning signs that these mandates are way ahead of consumer acceptance are everywhere.
At NADA, we will continue to keep the pressure on the administration and implore them — both publicly and through ongoing face-to-face meetings — to take a pause and realize that consumer demand simply isn’t where they need it to be.
We will continue to stress to them the need to look much more closely at hybrids, hydrogen and other ways we can lower emissions responsibly. We will also urge them to consider those alternative options as just as important, just as rewarding and just as critical to creating the future we all want for our kids and grandkids.
NADA is also fully engaged in a campaign to stop the FTC’s Vehicle Shopping Rule from being implemented and enforced.
In January, the FTC published the final version of the atrocious rule after a rushed, deeply flawed and, we believe, illegal process.
The bottom line on this rule? The Vehicle Shopping Rule is simply terrible for consumers.
It will add massive amounts of time, complexity, paperwork and cost to car-buying and car-shopping for tens of millions of Americans every year.
And the FTC failed at every juncture to justify why these wholesale changes to the way Americans shop for and purchase new cars are necessary, or how any of these changes would benefit consumers.
NADA continues to fight back against this rule with every tool in our arsenal. After the rule was published, NADA and the Texas Automobile Dealers Association filed a legal challenge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to stay July 30, 2024, the effective date of the FTC’s Vehicle Shopping Rule.
And I’m happy to report that just before the 2024 NADA Show in Las Vegas — in direct response to the legal challenge we initiated — the FTC issued a stay of its own rule, postponing the effective date of the rule pending judicial review.
In addition to our legal challenge, NADA is also pursuing Congressional solutions to either nullify the rule or deny the FTC funding to enforce the Vehicle Shopping Rule. Again, we’re utilizing every tool we have at our disposal on behalf of franchised dealers.
So, as you can see, we’ve got a lot on our plate. Which means YOU have a lot on your plate! So, stay involved, stay educated and stay in touch with your directors and your ATAEs. And remember that we’re in this together, which means we will be successful.
Many thanks,
Gary Gilchrist
2024 NADA Chairman
