F&I and Showroom, Industry Summit 2019

www fi magazine com 6 F I and Showroom Industry Summit 2019 GAP you were glad you did Storms in Louisiana can pop up any minute and not just in Southern Louisiana And as you indicated we definitely dont want to see situations like that drive GAP providers out of the market The more competition the better And were going through another challenge now on GAP with Military Lending Act compliance In Louisiana our law favors providing GAP However this FAQ that came down from the Defense Department with no opportunity for feedback from our industry partners had created problems Suddenly military members are de facto prevented from getting GAP The bank wont take a security interest in that loan Were obviously working with NADA and my counterparts across the country to fix the issue Any other concerns of note At the beginning of the year Peter Welch at NADA mentioned one of the biggest threats to new vehicle sales is the cost of new vehicles And your independent franchised dealer has no control over that Thats a concern Ive been in this job almost four years Four years ago the average price of a new car was about 33000 And now its close to 37000 Affordability is a concern So how do you address that I dont know what the silver bullet is to that Vehicles are safer now than they ever have been equipped with more technology than they have ever had People expect backup cameras and other safety features and with that comes a cost So we are seeing a move toward certified used vehicles There are a lot of great options at every new car dealership And if youve got a budget whatever that is the dealer can work with you to get you into a vehicle And again thats where the F I office comes into play You want to protect that asset Its the second most important purchase most people make When you buy a home you buy insurance warranties protect it any way you can Why wouldnt you do that with the vehicle you purchase Thats why the F I office so important How do you prioritize your agenda I tell people all the time that my main priority is relationships The manufacturer builds the car and helps market the car The dealer sells the vehicle and services the vehicle and should have freedom on F I and things like that and they should be the one to be advocate for consumer As long as those relationships exist and are well defined and the dealer has those freedoms any law that we have passed or will pass that furthers those relationships is going to be meaningful and important Have you sown up any legislation recently We have Over the last few years we have cleaned up and clarified some tax exemptions for the dealers We have also cleaned up and clarified our direct toconsumer sales laws There were some parts of the law where you could see the legislative intent was there but the language was unclear What did you think of the recent changes to the franchise laws in California I think California New Car Dealers Association President Brian Maas did a great job with that out there Ive talked with him several times We definitely want to implement a lot of things hes done with that legislation here in Louisiana One provision that got a lot of press was limiting factory ordered facility upgrades to 10 year intervals Yes And we have a reasonableness standard in Louisiana but as far as a defined year that is something were going to be looking at filing Mississippi put something into law last year and Florida and a lot of other states have as well We would just like to put some parameters in our law Whats next for the association and Louisiana dealers Were constantly getting feedback from members and we have a very active board of directors We meet almost monthly and were constantly looking for feedback And its a balancing act Were here to try to do everything we can to be sure we represent our dealers We want to do whats best for our customers Again my goal is to see what concerns the dealers have and address those concerns in a fair and equitable manner And I think were doing that and will continue to do so COVER STORY Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana and home to the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association which counts 345 dealer members and about 100 associate members GETTYIMAGES COM FELIXMIZIOZNIKOV