Automotive Industry

CFPB Targets Auto Financing For Enforcement

by Michael Volkov on 5/14/2013

The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau continues to spread its wings in the enforcement arena. It is an agency born and confined in political controversy. ...more

Use Planes, Trains And Automobiles To Get To Compliance Week 2013

by Thomas Fox on 5/10/2013

To say I am excited would be putting it mildly. Yes that most premier of compliance related conferences is on the short horizon; Compliance Week 2013 is nearly upon us. It will be from May 20-22 at the Mayflower Hotel in...more

CFPB Issues Subpoenas to Motor Vehicle Lenders: Discretion = Discrimination?

by David Dresher, Elena Lovoy | Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 5/10/2013

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFBP) has taken another step in its attempts to ensure “fair” pricing in indirect motor vehicle financing transactions. This latest development highlights the CFPB’s focus on the...more

Automotive Legal News - May 2013 • 2nd Quarter

by John Anderson, Sr., James M. Burns, M. Kimberly Stagg, Richard Wilhelm | Dickinson Wright on 5/9/2013

IN THE ISSUE: - The Legal Challenge to the SEC’s Conflict Minerals Reporting Regulations: In the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, the United States Congress required, inter alia, the SEC to promulgate regulations requiring...more

PARTS Act Could Limit Automotive Design Patent Enforceability to 2.5 Years

by John Geis | Foley & Lardner LLP on 5/9/2013

On April 23, 2013, H.R. 1663 “Promoting Automotive Repair, Trade, and Sales Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘PARTS Act’’, was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Similar bill H.R. 3889 died in committee last year. The proposed...more

The SCRA and Motor Vehicles - Auto Loans Vroom into the Forefront of Enforcement

by King & Spalding on 5/8/2013

In 2003, Congress passed the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA or “Act”), which updated and replaced the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act. The SCRA has been described as the “greatest single statutory source of...more

U.S. to Cut Automotive Tariffs as Japan Enters TPP Talks

by Christopher Swift | Foley & Lardner LLP on 5/6/2013

On April 24, 2013, Acting U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) Demetrios Marantis formally notified Congress that the United States plans to include Japan in Trans-Pacific Partnership (“TTP”) negotiations. Coming just three...more

Infrastructure Alert - May 1, 2013

by Cozen O'Connor on 5/2/2013

President Obama has nominated Anthony Foxx, the Mayor of Charlotte to replace Ray LaHood as Secretary of Transportation. Mayor Foxx oversaw several large transportation projects during his tenure as mayor, including the...more

Global Recall of 3.3 Million Cars Due to Faulty Airbags

by Demas Law Group on 4/30/2013

At least 3 million automobiles, including those manufactured by Honda, Nissan, Toyota and General Motors are being recalled due to faulty air bags which may pose a threat to safety. The airbags are manufactured by Takata...more

The Best-Kept Secrets of the Auto Industry

by Demas Law Group on 4/23/2013

Tire tread separation has caused at least 375 deaths between 2002 and 2009, but no one seems to be talking much about the problem, especially in the auto industry. The tire separation issue has primarily affected older Ford...more

Toyota Recalls 160,000 Tacoma Pickups Due to Rust

by The Rothenberg Law Firm LLP on 4/9/2013

Toyota issued another recall that will affect a number of drivers in New York as well as other states. This recall involves the Tacoma pickup, a vehicle known for plowing through the snow and carrying a heavy load on its bed....more

Industry Groups Petition EPA to Reconsider Approval of California's Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEV) Program

by Christopher Hanson | Foley & Lardner LLP on 4/5/2013

By December 2012, with the approval of the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), California was on the fast track to begin mandating the sale of zero-emission vehicles (“ZEVs”). Promulgated regulations require over 1.4...more

NHTSA Ordered an Expansion Of A Recall Of The Jeep Liberty

by Begam & Marks on 4/4/2013

Coinciding with a previous blog. In addition to the Chrysler Fire Probe NHTSA has ordered that a recall of the Jeep Liberty now cover 35,000 SUVs produced between July 2003 and June 2007. The recall is due to excessive...more

CFPB Announces Plans to Hold Auto Lenders Liable for Discriminatory Loans

by Michael Mallow, Michael Thurman | Loeb & Loeb LLP on 4/3/2013

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a guidance bulletin announcing that it will treat indirect auto lenders as creditors subject to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The March 21 bulletin follows the CFPB's...more

Ford Increases Electric Vehicle Dealers And Pushes Sales

by Bruce Goodman | Varnum LLP on 4/3/2013

The number of Ford Motor Company dealers who can sell electric vehicles will more than quadruple this spring. The company will so have 900 certified dealers, up from the 200 it had near the end of last year. The dealers will...more

Federal Safety Regulators Have Extended Their Chrysler Fire Probe To 5 Million SUVS

by Begam & Marks on 4/3/2013

Regulators have expanded their probe examining whether millions of Chrysler-made sport-utility vehicles have a high-risk catching fire in rear- end collisions. The investigation began in August 2010 and originally focused on...more

Conflict Minerals: Key Initial Compliance Steps for Companies

by Foley & Lardner LLP on 4/2/2013

The SEC’s conflict minerals reporting rules became effective January 1, 2013, and those rules impose burdens on companies throughout the automotive supply chain, given how prevalent the so-called “conflict minerals” are in...more

NHTSA Moves Ahead With Probe of Chevrolet Trailblazers Due To Door Fires

by Begam & Marks on 4/2/2013

Federal Safety Investigators have escalated the probe into the risk of door fires in the 2006-2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer. The investigation now involves 341, 786 vehicles...more

Sports Car With Detroit Name (again)

by Bruce Goodman | Varnum LLP on 4/2/2013

Detroit Electric has announced that in early April it will unveil a partnership with a Chinese carmaker to start August production of a limited edition, all electric sports vehicle in Michigan. Detroit Electric is led by...more

Auto finance: can we really call disparate impact “discrimination”?

by Christopher J. Willis | Ballard Spahr LLP on 4/1/2013

I want to thank Jeff Sovern over at the Public Citizen Consumer Law & Policy Blog for having an interesting back-and-forth with me over the last week about the application of the disparate impact theory of liability to dealer...more

CFPB Issues Guidance On Indirect Auto Lending

by BuckleySandler LLP on 4/1/2013

On March 21, the CFPB issued Bulletin 2013-02, which provides guidance to bank and nonbank indirect auto lenders about compliance with federal fair lending requirements, and specifically addresses the practice by which auto...more

Investigation of Toyota Vehicles Expands to 1.4 Million

by Begam & Marks on 4/1/2013

Federal Safety Investigators have expanded their investigation into a potential fire hazard in Toyota vehicles. The investigation now involves 1.4 million Toyota Cars and sport-utility vehicles. According the National Highway...more

Japan's Entry Into Free Trade Talks Presents Challenges for the Automotive Sector

by Christopher Swift | Foley & Lardner LLP on 3/29/2013

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s announcement that Japan will join talks on the Trans-Pacific Pacific Partnership (“TPP”) presents potential challenges for the U.S. automotive sector. Together with Canada and Mexico’s...more

How the CFPB’s stance on ECOA in auto finance will raise consumer prices

by Christopher J. Willis | Ballard Spahr LLP on 3/28/2013

Ever since the CFPB’s release of its bulletin relating to disparate impact analysis of dealer rate participation last week, the press and consumer advocacy groups have been buzzing about the Bureau’s stance and its potential...more

Protections When Supplying to a Troubled Customer

by Mark Aiello, Adam Wienner | Foley & Lardner LLP on 3/27/2013

Automotive sales in North America continue to climb, and many suppliers are prospering. However, there are some companies who are struggling and who may face bankruptcy. We have seen companies such as A123 Systems and certain...more

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