In a move impacting nearly every segment of its dealer business, AutoNation made a major procedure change on Tuesday, announcing a policy not to sell, lease or wholesale any new or used vehicle that has an open safety recall. 

The dealer group indicated this policy will apply to each one of AutoNation's 293 vehicle franchises across the United States and stands as a “confirmation of the company's commitment to delivering a peerless customer experience.”

Under the policy, AutoNation explained all vehicles with open safety recalls are to be identified and physically pulled from inventory. The units will be given “Not For Sale” hang tags, and key tags will be placed on them.

The dealer group insisted there are defined internal procedures for the processing and disposition of these vehicles that each associate will be expected to follow.

The company acknowledged a blanket commitment not to sell vehicles subject to a safety recall is not without cost, as adequate parts are not always immediately available. AutoNation pointed out that it must hold the vehicles in inventory until they are repaired.

The dealer group emphasized that its customers’ protection is “worth” the investment in the process.

“They believe that the decision to do so is ultimately the right one, and economic considerations must take a back seat to safety concerns,” officials said.

For this reason, the program addresses AutoNation's entire inventory, going well beyond the vehicles in the showroom.

For example, AutoNation will not wholesale any vehicle that has an open safety recall.  The company has taken an explicit position that it will not have any role whatsoever in these vehicles being on the road, and it will not use convenient methods such as wholesaling to rid itself of “problematic” inventory.

Furthermore, AutoNation highlighted another element of this new policy that officials believe is even more notable from a customer's point of view is associated with trades.

The company still will accept vehicles as trade-ins even if they have open safety recalls, valuing them according to standard guidelines even with the understanding that there may be additional time and investment in the processing of these vehicles as part of the reconditioning process.

“There’s no way to expect that customers would or should know of every safety recall on every vehicle they might purchase, so we will ensure that our vehicles have all recalls completed,” AutoNation chairman, chief executive officer and president Mike Jackson said.

“We make it our responsibility as a retailer to identify those vehicles and remove them from the market until their safety issues have been addressed,” Jackson went on to say.