Following public comment periods, the Federal Trade Commission approved final consent orders this week involving 10 dealers’ deceptive advertising charges.
Under the settlement orders, FTC officials said the dealerships are prohibited from misrepresenting in any advertisement for the purchase, financing or leasing of vehicles the cost of leasing a vehicle, the cost of purchasing a vehicle with financing, or any other material fact about the price, sale, financing or leasing of a vehicle.
When relevant, the FTC indicated consent orders also address the alleged Truth in Lending Act and Consumer Leasing Act violations by requiring the dealerships to clearly and conspicuously disclose terms required by these credit and lease laws.
In the case where the dealership misrepresented that consumers had won a prize, officials added the consent order also prohibits misrepresenting material terms of any prize, sweepstakes, giveaway, or other incentive.
The 10 dealerships are:
—Casino Auto Sales
—Courtesy Auto Group
—Honda of Hollywood
—Fowlerville Ford
—Infiniti of Clarendon Hills
—Nissan of South Atlanta
—Norm Reeves Honda Superstore
—Paramount Kia
—Rainbow Auto Sales
—Southwest Kia
The cases were part of Operation Steer Clear, a nationwide sweep focusing on misleading advertising associated with the selling, financing, and leasing of vehicles.
“Auto-related complaints remain one of the top 10 complaints to the Commission, and the sweep was part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to protect consumers in the auto marketplace,” FTC officials said.
In response to dealer demand, the Association of Finance & Insurance Professionals announced the introduction of AFIP Certification Boot Camps, which include two days of accelerated preparation for the federal and state regulation-based AFIP certification exam.
The first boot camps are being offered in Cleveland, Kansas City, Mo., Scottsdale, Ariz., and Trenton, N.J., in April.
The AFIP certification course are designed to address the laws that apply to in-dealership vehicle funding and leasing and aftermarket product sales.
“As a result of recent high-dollar penalties and enforcement actions, we’ve been inundated with calls from dealers who want their people AFIP certified, but don’t want to wait the six to eight weeks it typically takes to complete the course,” AFIP executive director David Robertson said.
“The boot camp allows dealers to certify their people in a much shorter time period. We recommend that attendees spend about three weeks of independent study before the sessions,” Robertson continued.
The first day of boot camp is devoted to an intensive review of the key state and federal regulations. The second day begins with a final exam review and culminates in administration of the proctored exam.
The boot camp fee is $150, plus the cost of the AFIP certification course. Boot Camps are open to first-time, senior- and master-level candidates in AFIP’s three-tiered continuing education program.
Onsite boot camps are available to dealer groups. Managers can contact AFIP for pricing and availability.
Robertson noted the boot camp concept was originally developed to assist a national dealer group’s personnel who were having trouble completing the course.
“The methodologies implemented with this group turned out to be highly successful,” he said. “The scores and passing rates were higher than those typically achieved through the traditional course of study.
“When we started getting calls from dealers who wanted their people certified yesterday, we already had an accelerated program in place that we knew would ultimately benefit all candidates and expedite the certification process,” Robertson went on to say.
For more information about AFIP, visit www.afip.com.
AFIP Announces $1,000 Scholarship Winner
In other news, Christina Robertson, AFIP’s corporate counsel and director of education said the recipient of the $1,000 Jakob Murray Lange Memorial scholarship went to Luke Flannery, a Northwood University automotive marketing major from Bad Axe, Mich.
Robertson noted Flannery earned the scholarship for his exemplary achievement as a dealership intern last summer.
Flannery interned at Bill Marsh Automotive Group in Traverse City, Mich. The full service dealership operates on four campuses and sells new and used Buick, GMC, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Hyundai and Ford vehicles.
According to general sales manager Dan O’Connor, “We first connected with Luke in a roundtable discussion on campus. I was very impressed with his professionalism and knowledge of the business. He later approached us about internship opportunities. We’d never had an intern, but decided to take Luke on last summer.
“Luke spent time in every department on all four campuses — sales, service and parts, the body shop, centralized reconditioning, marketing, accounting and J.D. Byrider — plus time on the job shadowing me,” O’Connor continued.
“Our experience with Luke went beyond our expectations,” O’Connor went on to say. “He was always prepared, conducted himself in a very professional manner and was a ‘sponge’ to all things Bill Marsh. He not only became a part of our team, by the end of the summer Luke was contributing in leadership meetings and truly had an understanding of our philosophy and culture.
“I’d like to thank Elgie Bright for his dedication to the young students coming out of Northwood. He’s a great role model and example to the next generation of automobile professionals,” O’Connor added.
This is the second year AFIP has awarded the scholarship, recently named to honor a gifted AFIP staff member, Jakob Murray Lange, who died in a car accident last year.
A plaque recognizing the scholarship recipients is on display in the NADA building on the Northwood University campus.
In addition to the scholarship funds, Flannery will receive a crystalline obelisk in recognition of his achievement.
Bright emphasized that internships have been an important component of Northwood’s automotive marketing and management program for many years.
“The experience students gain working at dealerships has proven invaluable to their success in moving from the classroom to the showroom,” Bright said. “Having AFIP support our efforts through their scholarship program raises the prestige of the experience and helps boost interest in internship opportunities.
“We are grateful to Dave Robertson and the AFIP staff for all they do to support our program here at Northwood,” Bright went on say.
And David Robertson added, “As I've learned firsthand working with dealers throughout the U.S., Northwood interns are highly prized for their ability to apply the lessons learned in the classroom to the real world challenges they encounter in the dealership."
With dealer advertising promoting attractive financing options in the crosshairs of the Federal Trade Commission, the National Automobile Dealers Association is hosting a free webinar aimed at helping stores keep their campaigns compliance.
NADA officials highlighted the upcoming “Comply with Federal Advertising Requirements” webinar will provide participants the opportunity to hear directly from a panel of FTC attorneys on key requirements and restrictions related to dealership advertising.
Set to be a part of the session from the FTC are Mark Glassman, Teresa Kosmidis, and Carole Reynolds
NADA chief regulatory counsel Paul Metrey will moderate the discussion, which will highlight recent FTC advertising enforcement actions from dealerships around the country as examples of what to avoid.
The 75-minute webinar is available to dealership employees, dealership compliance professionals, and persons who provide advertising services to dealerships.
The webinar will be held at 1 p.m. ET on March 19.
Click here to register.
