Opposing Statements On 'Right-To-Repair' Expose Dealer-Automaker Tension
Seeking to avoid a November ballot question on Right-To-Repair legislation, Massachusetts automobile dealers announced jointly with the coalition pushing the bill that a compromise has been reached.
Car dealers want to avoid the ballot question because they fear voters would approve it, which they said could affect their ability to get inventory from auto manufacturers.
The Massachusetts State Automobile Dealer Association (MSADA), which represents dealerships, and the Massachusetts Right To Repair Coalition, which represents some independent mechanics as well as aftermarket parts makers, jointly announced yesterday afternoon that they had reached a compromise on the legislation that would help avoid the statewide vote.
"Should the ballot pass, and all polls indicate it would overwhelmingly, there is a great possibility that our dealers will not have vehicles to sell to our customers beginning in the spring of 2014 as the manufacturers cannot, or will not, comply with the law," MSADA Vice President Robert O'Koniewski said in a statement.
The two parties did not disclose the nature of the compromise.
Art Kinsman, spokesman for the coalition, said his members' fight has always been with "big out-of-state car manufacturers."
"Today's accord proves that both new car dealers and independent repairers together have their customers' best interests at heart," Kinsman wrote.
But a national association representing car makers was not impressed.
Three hours after the Massachusetts groups announced the compromise, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) issued a response calling the compromise "misleading."
"This is not new nor is this a compromise," wrote AAM spokesman Dan Gage. "This is simply rehashing the ill-conceived bill the Senate passed weeks ago. We have worked for months, bringing all major automakers to the table. We remain ready to negotiate in good faith."
(update: 6/21/12 3:15 p.m.) O'Koniewski, of MSADA, told the Statehouse News Service today that the protections for dealers negotiated into the Senate bill make it a far better alternative than allowing than allowing the ballot question to move forward.
That doesn't mean the dealers necessarily agree with the premise of the legislation that independent repairs lack access to the necessary diagnostic tools to repair consumer vehicles.
"As you may recall we've been an opponents of this legislation because from our perspective, not only as franchise dealers, we're also independent repairers ourselves. From our perspective the information they need is out there in the marketplace and easier to obtain than not obtain," O'Koniewski said.
O'Koniewski said the Senate bill pushed out the implementation date from 2014 to 2017, giving manufacturers more time to comply and lessening the threat that certain models won't be available for sale in Massachusetts.
The bill also stipulates that manufacturers can't force dealers to buy diagnostic tools that independent repairers are required to purchase, and manufacturers would be prohibited from setting up repair networks outside the dealer network.
"We're just trying to structure a bill that allows the Right to Repair Coalition to achieve some of their goals while the at the same time protecting the dealers' interest in the marketplace so our franchise licenses aren't violated," O'Koniewski said.
Gage, of AAM, said manufacturers, auto suppliers, law enforcement, organized labor, and high tech, bio and research and development businesses remain opposed to the bill.
Material from the Statehouse News Service was used in this report.
Image credit: freedigitalphotos.net
Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly portrayed the membership of The Right To Repair Coalition. While the coalition represents many mechanics, several service groups have come out against Right To Repair.
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