AutoNation won't sell vehicles with open recall issues
AutoNation, the country's largest auto retailer, said today it will no longer sell any new or used vehicles under recall that have not been repaired.
"There's no way to expect that customers would or should know of every safety recall on every vehicle they might purchase, so we will ensure that our vehicles have all recalls completed," said Mike Jackson, chairman, CEO and president of the Fort Lauderdale-based retailer. "We make it our responsibility as a retailer to identify those vehicles and remove them from the market until their safety issues have been addressed."
The move comes after an unprecedented wave of recalls the last two years. That was partially driven by General Motors' delayed recall of about 2.5 million small cars from model years 2003 through 2007 that were equipped with defective ignition switches that could slip from the "on" to the "accessory" position, cutting off power to the vehicles other electrical systems, including power steering.
The defect was tied to 124 deaths.
In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has new leadership under current administrator Mark Rosekind. He has a political mandate to be more aggressive in tracking safety problems and deciding when manufacturers should issue recalls.
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AutoNation, which operates 293 dealer franchises across the country, said the decision will come at significant cost because it will retain more inventory while the recall-related repairs are completed than it would before the policy was implemented.
The program applies to AutoNation's entire inventory, not just vehicles on the sales floor. The company has said it will not have any role in enabling these vehicles being on the road, including selling them at wholesale at used vehicle auctions or other markets.
The primary lobbying group for the nation's auto dealers didn't endorse AutoNation's decision.
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“There is no evidence that a blanket grounding of all used vehicles with open recalls will make the roads or consumers any safer,” the National Automobile Dealers Association said in a statement. “Unduly restricting the delivery of all used vehicles subject to safety recalls will, however, immediately and severely depress the value of consumer trades with unremedied safety recalls, especially when the dealer considering the value of the trade-in is unauthorized or unable to perform the recall remedy.”
Contact Greg Gardner: (313) 222-8762 or ggardner@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregGardner12
