FAILURE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT CONSUMER BRAND PREFERENCE IN EVALUATING A CAR DEALER’S PERFORMANCE VIOLATES THE DEALER ACT; UNILATERAL CHANGE TO THE GEOGRAPHIC AREA USED TO EVALUATE A CAR DEALER’S PERFORMANCE DOES NOT VIOLATE THE DEALER ACT.
The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Rivera, over a dissenting opinion, determined General Motors’ [GM’s] failure to take into account consumer-preference in determining an auto-dealer’s [franchisee’s] performance violated the Dealer Act. The court further determined that GM’s changes to the geographic area in which plaintiff-dealer’s sales performance is measured did not violate the act:
… [O]nce GM determined that statewide raw data must be adjusted to account for customer preference as a measure of dealer sales performance, GM’s exclusion of local brand popularity or import bias rendered the standard unreasonable and unfair because these preference factors constitute market challenges that impact a dealer’s sales performance differently across the state. It is unlawful under section 463 (2) (gg) to measure a dealer’s sales performance by a standard that fails to consider the desirability of the Chevrolet brand itself as a measure of a dealer’s effort and sales ability. * * *
… [A] revision of the [geographic area] is not perforce violative of section 463 (2) (ff). Rather, such change must be assessed on a case-by-case basis, upon consideration of the impact of the revision on a dealer’s position. Beck Chevrolet Co., Inc. v General Motors LLC, 2016 NY Slip Op 03412, CtApp 5-3-16
FRANCHISED MOTOR VEHICLE DEALER ACT (FAILURE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT CONSUMER BRAND PREFERENCE IN EVALUATING A CAR DEALER’S PERFORMANCE VIOLATES THE DEALER ACT; UNILATERAL CHANGE TO THE GEOGRAPHIC AREA USED TO EVALUATE A CAR DEALER’S PERFORMANCE DOES NOT VIOLATE THE DEALER ACT)/DEALER ACT (FAILURE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT CONSUMER BRAND PREFERENCE IN EVALUATING A CAR DEALER’S PERFORMANCE VIOLATES THE DEALER ACT; UNILATERAL CHANGE TO THE GEOGRAPHIC AREA USED TO EVALUATE A CAR DEALER’S PERFORMANCE DOES NOT VIOLATE THE DEALER ACT)/CAR SALES (DEALER ACT, FAILURE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT CONSUMER BRAND PREFERENCE IN EVALUATING A CAR DEALER’S PERFORMANCE VIOLATES THE DEALER ACT; UNILATERAL CHANGE TO THE GEOGRAPHIC AREA USED TO EVALUATE A CAR DEALER’S PERFORMANCE DOES NOT VIOLATE THE DEALER ACT)/AUTO SALES (DEALER ACT, FAILURE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT CONSUMER BRAND PREFERENCE IN EVALUATING A CAR DEALER’S PERFORMANCE VIOLATES THE DEALER ACT; UNILATERAL CHANGE TO THE GEOGRAPHIC AREA USED TO EVALUATE A CAR DEALER’S PERFORMANCE DOES NOT VIOLATE THE DEALER ACT)/VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW (DEALER ACT, FAILURE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT CONSUMER BRAND PREFERENCE IN EVALUATING A CAR DEALER’S PERFORMANCE VIOLATES THE DEALER ACT; UNILATERAL CHANGE TO THE GEOGRAPHIC AREA USED TO EVALUATE A CAR DEALER’S PERFORMANCE DOES NOT VIOLATE THE DEALER ACT)