The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reiterated its support of a third-party enforcement programme that would resolve disputes between aftermarket companies and the car manufacturers in a letter sent to representatives Joe Barton (a Texas Republican), chief sponsor of the “Right to Repair Act” and Cliff Stearns (Florida Republican), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.
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The FTC recommended in the December 22 letter to Congress that the use of a third-party review system would “provide important incentives for industry members.” The commission further declared that “these programmes can effectively address consumer or competitor complaints by assessing whether a particular practice violates industry standards. To help ensure the effectiveness of these self-regulatory initiatives, the commission generally recommends that, in addressing the individual disputes, third party systems should be impartial and objective; be public; and apply standards consistently.”
“AAIA welcomes the input from the FTC as an independent assessment of why the current process utilised by the National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) is not effective in ensuring the availability of service information,” said Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association president and CEO Kathleen Schmatz. “The associations supporting right to repair have maintained that any non-legislative solution must include a strong commitment regarding tools and service information by the manufacturers that is clear and comprehensive; as well as a strong third party enforcement component that would ensure that companies keep their commitment.
“Although we are continuing to push for passage of Right to Repair legislation, we stand ready to work with representatives Barton and Stearns and other interested parties to develop an effective solution to the service information issue, one that will ensure the future viability of the independent aftermarket and would maintain competition for car owners seeking maintenance and repair of their vehicle,” added Schmatz.
The December letter from the FTC responded to questions from Stearns and Barton as to whether the FTC could form a commission composed of non-industry “independent” directors to oversee the service information issue. While the FTC stated that it did not have such authority, it did state that it could help in the appointment of members of the board which should be comprised of both industry representatives with a stake in the issue and independent directors. The group would oversee resolution of the aftermarket service information and tools issues.
“AAIA supports such an effort by the FTC, but we believe that that governance of the board should be fair and represent both the aftermarket and car companies equally,” added Schmatz.
The “Right to Repair Act” would require the car companies to make the same service information and tools capabilities available to independents service providers that they make available to their franchised dealer networks.
Architects of the “Right to Repair Act” have added new language to clarify that car company trade secrets are protected unless that information is provided to the franchised new car dealer. The new language also clarifies the responsibilities of the Federal Trade Commission in enforcing the bill’s requirements.
