Regulations: Page

NHTSA Probes Headlight Glare

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lighting Research Center receives a grant to study the effects of headlight glare.

By Herb Shuldiner • Aug. 9, 2006

What Happens when Law Sees Dealers as Creditors

Editor's note: This story is part of the WardsAuto digital archive, which may include content that was first published in print, or in different web layouts.Dealers who spot deliver vehicles (and then the credit agencies don't finance the buyers) or dealers who simply size up a customer as not cr...

By Jim Leman • July 1, 2006

Try Testing Your F&I Compliance Knowledge

Editor's note: This story is part of the WardsAuto digital archive, which may include content that was first published in print, or in different web layouts.Complying with auto financing regulations at dealerships starts with vehicle salespersons, not finance and insurance staffers. So says Bruce...

By Steve Finlay • July 1, 2006

Airbag Safety Everyone’s Concern

The growing number of airbags in vehicles is making the work of emergency personnel much more difficult.

By Barbara McClellan • June 14, 2006

Polycarbonate Stalled?

A major project announced in March 2005 to replace automotive glass with lightweight polycarbonate glazing has not yet gelled. Cadence Innovations, the successor to the former bankrupt supplier Venture Industries, has planned a $30 million investment over the next six years in Czech Republic to produce polycarbonate glazing coated with a scratch-resistant layer. However, the company has not yet decided

By William Diem • June 1, 2006

How Many Dealers Comply?

Hazard a guess at how many dealerships fully comply with finance and insurance rules and regulations: (A) 33% (B) 76% (C) 4% (D) 15% According to F&I experts, the answer is 15%. They admit it's an educated guess. In fact, it even may be closer to 10%. And the sad part here is that at least 50% of dealers think they're doing it right, says Terry Dortch of Automotive Compliance Consultants. Considering

By Jim Leman • June 1, 2006

Mind Those HR Matters

The dealership world has become burdened with government regulations affecting every part of the operation. One often overlooked is the human resources department. Dealerships not large enough for a separate HR department and director typically add that responsibility to an already overloaded controller or office manager. At what point do you need a separate department or position? There is no clear-cut

By John Davis • Feb. 1, 2006

Where Did All Of Those Bad Drivers Come From?

An automotive forecaster predicts a greater emphasis on vehicle safety to address an expected increase in the number of bad drivers in the U.S. Those sub-par motorists of the future would come from opposite ends of the population spectrum: young people with little driving experience and older motorists whose driving skills are waning, says Sean McAlinden of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann

By Steve Finlay • Feb. 1, 2006

Dealers Learn Online How to Ship Hazardous Material

A new online training program will instruct dealership employees how properly ship hazardous materials. The training starts in late 2005. Two years in the making, it is a joint effort involving the Automotive Industry Action Group and the North American Automotive HazMat Action Committee, which includes regulatory compliance specialists from major auto makers. We have resolved to move forward with

Sept. 1, 2005

FACTS’ Unsettling Facts

I had the discomfort of listening to a presentation by Paul Metry and Smitha Koppuzha of the National Automobile Dealers Assn.'s regulatory affairs division during a conference sponsored by my firm, Dixon Hughes. It's not that their presentation was poor. To the contrary. They were right on target. They outlined for us not only the legal responsibility that dealerships have concerning federal regulations

By Don Ray • Jan. 1, 2005

Case of Hungry Lawyers

The Florida Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this month in the case of Stewart Toyota of North Palm Bay, FL vs. Raymond Ingalsbe and Kent Brown. If the court rules against the dealership, dealers may no longer have the right to settle legal disputes with their customers out of court and without lawyers present. The lawsuit likely will reinforce the perception among car dealers that trial lawyers

By Cliff Banks • Nov. 1, 2004

Debt Cancellation Policy Replacing Credit Life

A debt cancellation contract that replaces the traditional credit life or health insurance policy has been introduced to the F&I market by Central States of Omaha. Advantages of the Secure Pay Plus contract, says the provider's spokesman, Greg DuPlessis, include no-commission caps applicable as required by several states, and no state license is needed since debt cancellation is not considered an

Nov. 1, 2004

ABCs of F&I Compliance

Most dealers I've met know a heck of a lot about selling cars, but not much about things such as Regulation Z, M or B. If you don't know what these regulations are, this proves my point. Dealers do know that first and foremost they must keep the metal rolling off the lot in order to survive. But, amidst a counter-business culture comprised of plaintiff lawyers and relentless state attorneys general,

By ROB COHEN • Nov. 1, 2004

F&I License Law Considered

Like insurance agents and marriagecounselors, Virginia'sdealership finance and insurance managers could join the ranks of business professionals requiring a license. The Virginia Automobile Dealers Assn. is exploring whether it's time to propose an F&I manager licensing law. If enacted (and odds are that the powerful VADA could see it through), Virginia would be the first state in the nation to approve

By Mac Gordon • Sept. 1, 2004

Taking Safety Hi-Tech

It wasn't long ago when the auto industry was proposing a number of gee-whiz, space-aged ideas to promote safer driving, including smart cars and smart highways. Now, Chrysler Group thinks it has an even smarter and more cost-effective idea that will make tomorrow's vehicles and roads truly safer. The auto maker is working with a variety of government agencies across the U.S. to deploy Dedicated Short

By Kevin Kelly • July 1, 2004

JCI Output Moving To Mexico

Despite government pressure, Johnson Controls Inc. will shift sun-visor output from plants in Michigan and Kentucky to Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, saying the move is critical to remain competitive. Some 885 jobs will be cut at JCI's Southview plant in Holland, MI, and a Glasgow, KY, facility will lose 180 positions. Despite record profits, JCI says it needed to operations in order to remain in the visor

May 1, 2004

R&D Incentives

Relations between France and the U.S. hit a new low last year when the French government did not support President George W. Bush in the U.S. invasion of Iraq. But one fact has been buried in the furor over U.S. foreign policy: France and the U.S. are major trading partners with key auto-industry ties. Visiting Detroit last month in conjunction with the 9th Annual Invest in France Awards, Clara Gaymard,

April 1, 2004

Regulations Derail Solstice for Europe

Upcoming European pedestrian-impact regulations are preventing General Motors Corp. from selling a version of its '06 Pontiac Solstice there, company executives tell Ward's. The Pontiac roadster is based on GM's new Kappa small-car rear-wheel-drive platform, as are the Saturn Curve, Chevy Nomad and U.K.-designed Vauxhall VX Lightening concept cars. A GM Europe official says: It's challenging due to

Feb. 1, 2004

OEMs Agree to Safety Upgrades

Vehicle manufacturers including the U.S. and Japanese Big Three, Volkswagen AG and BMW AG, are vowing to make occupants safer in front- and side impacts and to lower the risk of death or injury in crashes between light trucks and passenger cars. The OEMs, members of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, will enhance front structural components and side-impact protection to better protect occupants

Jan. 1, 2004

Smells Like Teen Spirit

An entrepreneurial 18-year-old son of an auto dealer is at it again. Cameron Johnson, founder and CEO of Zablo.com Inc., has launched a second web-based service for dealers. This one plugs into the Federal Trade Commission's new regulations against telemarketing calls. Zablo's Do-Not-Call List Manager sets up a dealership with an account that lets staffers flag phone numbers of customers who don't

By Steve Finlay • Dec. 1, 2003

35-year Veteran Steps Down as Head of California Dealers Assn.

Jay Gorman has retired as longtime executive vice president of the California Motor Car Dealers Assn. Peter Welch succeeds him. Welch was the group's director of government and legal affairs. The executive vice president heads the association along with elected dealer officers. A native of Missouri, Gorman began his automobile career in 1968 with the Motor Car Dealers Association of Southern California

Sept. 1, 2003

Safeguard Customer Info

With terrorism and identity theft on many Americans' minds, consumer information concerns have become a hot issue with the federal government. Businesses (including car dealerships) that handle sensitive customer data must comply with provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the resulting Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) privacy and safeguards rules. The privacy rule addresses how you share information

By Don Ray • Sept. 1, 2003

Rotary Lift Debuts Big 10,000-lbs. Model

Rotary Lift's flagship two-post lift is bulking up. Responding to increasing vehicle size and the need for greater flexibility in the service department, the lifting capacity has gone from 9,000 to 10,000 lbs. The A10i also features Rotary's true asymmetrical design, which places the center of gravity in line with the load on the columns for greater reliability and safety. It lets passenger car doors

July 1, 2003

UAW: Rethink China

A Chinese government spokesman denounces allegations by United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger that China mistreats its workers. The labor leader tells the Detroit Economic Club that China foments a climate that is hostile to workers and unions. But Jin Zhijian of the Chinese Consulate in Chicago denies the charge. Gettelfinger's remarks are not the facts, he says. China has health and safety

May 1, 2003

Law Threatens Lease-Dependent NY Dealers

Many auto industry people never heard of vicarious liability, but it's an old law that's become a legal threat to leasing. It could hurt some lease-heavy dealers, especially in New York. Eight states have vicarious liability laws dating to when many vehicles were driven by owners' employees. New York's law targeted reckless livery drivers too poor themselves to compensate victims of accidents they

By Herb Shuldiner • April 1, 2003