New York State Franchise Law for New Car Dealers

HIGHLIGHTS

Franchised Motor Vehicle Dealer Act Article 17-a Vehicle and Traffic Law

page 20

Good Faith – 462(8a)

• Defines “good faith” dealings as honesty in fact and requires the use of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing, which is applied in later sections. • Incorporates and expands on the common law definition of good faith.

page 20

Line-make – Section 462(13)

• Clarifies that the term “line-make” includes a specific “brand.

page 21

Relevant Market Area – 462(15)

• Establishes a “relevant market area” (RMA) for the purposes of defining a territory around the dealership. A dealer may protest a unilateral addition or relocation of a same line-make dealer by a franchisor within the dealer’s RMA. • Defines a relevant market area as a 6-mile radius in counties of 100,000 or more population or 10 mile radius in counties with less than 100,000 in population.

page 22

Captive Finance Source – 462(16)

• Defines “captive finance source” in order to match up with later provisions restricting the ways in which manufacturers can use their captive finance companies.

page 22

Termination – 462(17)

• Defines “termination” of a franchise in a manner to match up with provisions in later sections that provide rights to dealers in connection with terminations by franchisors.

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