Archives: Dealer Bulletins

Members may recall from a AADA bulletin in May of last year, about Government plans to introduce the Payment Times Reporting Scheme (PTRS).

Under this scheme, businesses with total annual income of over $100 million and large government enterprises are required to report their small business payment terms and times. Reporting is required twice a year and is performed online through a government portal.

The first payment times reports will fall due on 1 July 2021 for reporting entities and will have to be lodged by 30 September 2021.

Members who are affected by this new legislation are advised to be aware of it and prepare accordingly. Recent media reports indicate that some affected businesses are unaware of the new legislation and the obligations on big business that it creates.

The following links provide further information on the scheme and links to the PTRS portal.

GUIDANCE FOR REPORTING ENTITIES

FURTHER INFORMATION

DOWNLOAD DEALER BULLETIN

DEALER RIGHTS, RISKS AND OBLIGATIONS

The AADA has been approached by several Dealers who have expressed concerns over clauses in contracts with some third party service and DMS providers. In particular, these clauses seek to impose levels of control and ownership over Dealer-held customer data. There have been reports of customer data being passed onto third parties and used for commercial purposes without obtaining a Dealer’s consent. It is incredibly important that Dealers assert their control and ownership of all customer data when entering into contracts and we would strongly urge all members to seek expert advice before signing such agreements.

Dealers would recall from the recent public hearings of the Senate Inquiry into Manufacturer / Dealer relations that the issue of customer data was highly contentious and questions about who has rights to ownership of customer data were raised in the line of questioning put to Manufacturers by the Senate Committee members.

The growth in online sales continues to add value to customer data which is equally as important to third party providers as it is to the Manufacturers. It is critical that Dealers fully appreciate the importance of customer data and know who has access to it in the Dealership and outside of it.

The attached advice is provided by HWL Ebsworth lawyers at our request and provides information about the legal obligations that Dealers need to consider when handling customer data in the dealership.

Download HWL Ebsworth advice

Section 3 of the attached advice is particularly important for Dealers as it deals specifically with what to be aware of when entering into contractual arrangements with third party providers who may have access to customer data.

We would advise all Dealers to be aware of these limitations and consider obtaining specialist legal advice when entering into contracts of this nature.

Dealers should not rely on advice given to them by third party providers or assume that contract terms are lawful and free of Dealer liability.

Download Dealer Bulletin

The Treasury has released draft legislation to establish a service and repair information sharing scheme.

The AADA has participated in discussions on the development of this legislation, along with other industry associations representing a broad range of interests. It has always been a concern of ours that safety, security and emissions information is provided conditionally and only to those who hold the necessary training and equipment levels, along with the appropriate security credentials.

The draft legislation does allow for certain types of information to be restricted, based on the credentials of the applicant. The AADA will be carefully reviewing these clauses to make sure they provide adequate safeguards.

The AADA has also sought to ensure that the legislation is based on the principles of competitive neutrality, as was recommended by the ACCC in its 2017 Market Study, which was highly influential in shaping the draft legislation. It is essential that the costs associated with running a Dealer workshop are comparable with those of independent repairers, if those repairers are endeavouring to offer services to consumers to an equivalent standard of franchised Dealers. The draft legislation calls for information to be provided at a cost no greater than that of “fair market value”. However, this will be difficult to assess until the scheme is implemented and we have some idea of the associated costs, which we will also be carefully monitoring.

The AADA will be reviewing the draft legislation taking input from the service managers member reference group and will also be meeting with Treasury officials in January to discuss issues raised by the draft.

Submissions to the draft are due on 31 January 2021. Members wishing to provide input into the AADA submission should contact the secretariat with any thoughts and suggestions. Further information including the exposure draft and explanatory memorandum are available here.

Download Dealer Bulletin

On Friday, the Government released a set of Automotive Principles to address issues between new car Dealers and offshore Manufacturers. The AADA is very disappointed that the application of the principles will be voluntary and believes this won’t help protect Australia’s Dealers from being treated unfairly by their overseas franchisors. We have publicly expressed our frustration and disappointment with this Government decision in a media release issued immediately after the announcement by Ministers Andrews, Cash and Sukkar.

The AADA is also bemused that the Government would release the new principles without waiting for the Senate committee, which is currently investigating the relationship between car Manufacturers and car Dealers, to release their final report which is expected to be delivered by 18 March 2021.

Bizarrely, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has come out against the voluntary principles, claiming that they are an overreaction by the Government. Clearly, those Dealers who until recently had a Holden sign on the front of their Dealerships would see things very differently.

The Labor Party reminded the Government that it had broken its commitment to introduce a stand-alone code in 2018.

The AADA will continue to make the case with the Government that supporting franchised new car Dealers and protecting them from the abuses of Manufacturers is more important than ever. Manufacturer behaviour which is opportunistic, exploitative and grossly unfair is already forcing Dealers to close their doors and people employed by Dealers and those businesses who support them, to lose their jobs.

The AMDC, AADA Board and AADA secretariat encourage all members to support us in making our message heard. We will be reaching out to members about this in a separate email in the coming days.

Download Dealer Bulletin

The public hearings and consultation period regarding the Senate Inquiry into the Relationship between car Dealers and Manufacturers has now concluded.

The first-round public hearings of the expanded Inquiry were conducted on 19 November at which the Committee heard from NADA, AADA, Astoria Honda, MTAA and the FCAI representing the OEMs. The second round of hearings was held on Tuesday, 24 November and included Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi and Mercedes-Benz along with the National Toyota Dealers Association, David Blackhall, the Treasury and the Department of Industry, Science Energy and Resources.

The recordings are available from the following links:

Recordings – Public Hearings Day 1:

• National Automobile Dealers Association
• Australian Automotive Dealer Association
• Astoria Honda Brighton
• Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries
• Motor Trades Association of Australia

Recordings – Public Hearings Day 2:

• National Toyota Dealers Association
• Toyota Australia
• Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited
• Honda Australia
• Mr David Blackhall, Managing Director, Raglan Ridge Advisory
• Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific Pty Ltd
• Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
• Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman
• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

Transcripts:

• 19 November 2020 Senate Committee Public Hearings – Transcript
• 24 November 2020 Senate Committee Public Hearings – Transcript

Download Dealer Bulletin

Members are advised to be aware of a public warning notice issued by NSW Fair Trading about The Car Buying Agency and its principal Shervin Kalimi Chadorchi.

The full warning, taken from the NSW Government’s Fair Trading website, is as follows:

Do not deal with Shervin Kalimi Chadorchi, presently Director of the Car Buying Agency Pty Ltd

18 June 2020

Consumers are warned not to deal with Mr Shervin Kalimi Chadorchi, presently the sole Director, Secretary and shareholder of The Car Buying Agency Pty Ltd (ACN 635785625) (the Trader) which operates as a broking service, sourcing motor vehicles for consumers via its website thecarbuyingagency.com.au.

The Trader’s principal place of business is listed as Tower 1, International Towers, Level 35,100 Barrangoo Avenue, Sydney.

NSW Fair Trading has received complaints about Mr Chadorchi (whille) involved with the Trader, and those matters are currently under investigation.

Complaints relate to consumers who made contact with Mr Chadorchi through the Trader’s website thecarbuyingagency.com.au. The complainants received invoices purporting to be from large car dealerships which included Mr Chadorchi’s personal bank account number.

Consumers made payments to this account believing it to be the suppliers bank account.

It is reported that the motor vehicles are not supplied; refunds are only provided after extensive follow up from consumers; and on occasion, that consumers are provided with false bank payment receipts and emails purporting to be evidence of the processing of refunds when in fact the refunds have not been processed. Refunds provided to date appear to be unreasonably delayed.

NSW Fair Trading understands that Mr Chadorchi was previously associated with Cars and Co Pty Ltd, being a company that was the subject of a public warning issued on 14 June 2019.

Customers who have dealt with Mr Shervin Kalimi Chadorchi, presently the Director of The Car Buying Agency and are not satisfied with their interaction, are urged to contact NSW Fair Trading on 13 32 20.

 

Recent reports received by AADA indicate that this business is currently active and NSW authorities are conducting further investigations into its operations and the individuals associated with it.

Download Dealer Bulletin

With zero new cases reported across the State, the Victorian Premier has announced that Melbourne will move to the Third Step of the Reopening Roadmap.

This includes a considerable relaxation of the existing Second Step restrictions and comes into effect from 11.59pm Tuesday, 27 October.

Some important details of the Third Step are:

• Retail operations can resume
• Staff can return immediately to the workplace to prepare for businesses to reopen
• Workplaces no longer need to be on the permitted worklist to open
• Workers who can work from home must work from home
• There are no restrictions on reasons for people to leave home
• Melbourne cafes, restaurants and pubs will be able to re-open in Melbourne, subject to indoor and outdoor patronage limits

The 25 km travel limit for Melburnians and the border between regions and metropolitan Melbourne remains in place.

The Premier has also added that if numbers remain low, on 8 November the 25km rule will be removed and Melbourne will move into the same restriction level as regional Victoria. This will also allow gyms, indoor fitness, and regional accommodation venues to reopen.

All allowable business operations and activities under the Third Step must adhere to a COVID-Safe plan.

The full statement by the Premier is available here.

Download Dealer Bulletin