Senate Bill No. 635
(By Senator Caruth)
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[Introduced February 19, 2007; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17A-6A-12 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to motor vehicle dealers;
and providing that the terms "relocate" and "relocation", for
purposes of the statute, do not include situations when an
existing vehicle dealer sells or transfers its dealership to
a new owner or dealer and the new owner or dealer relocates to
a location within two miles of the selling dealer's last open
dealership location.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17A-6A-12 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6A. MOTOR VEHICLE DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, WHOLESALERS AND
MANUFACTURERS.
§17A-6A-12. Relocation.
(1) As used in this section, "relocate" and "relocation" do
not include the relocation of a new motor vehicle dealer within two
miles of its established place of business
or an existing vehicle dealer sells or transfers its dealership to a new owner or dealer
and the new owner or dealer relocates to a location within two
miles of the selling dealer's last open dealership location. The
relocation of a new motor vehicle dealer to a site within the area
of sales responsibility assigned to that dealer by the
manufacturing branch or distributor may not be within six air
miles of another dealer of the same line-make.
(2) Before a manufacturer or distributor enters into a dealer
agreement establishing or relocating a new motor vehicle dealer
within a relevant market area where the same line-make is
represented, the manufacturer or distributor shall give written
notice to each new motor vehicle dealer of the same line-make in
the relevant market area of its intention to establish an
additional dealer or to relocate an existing dealer within that
relevant market area.
(3) Within sixty days after receiving the notice provided for
in subsection (2) above, or within sixty days after the end of any
appeal procedure provided by the manufacturer or distributor, a new
motor vehicle dealer of the same line-make within the affected
relevant market area may bring a declaratory judgment action in the
circuit court for the county in which the new motor vehicle dealer
is located to determine whether good cause exists for the
establishing or relocating of a proposed new motor vehicle dealer.
Once an action has been filed, the manufacturer or distributor may
not establish or relocate the proposed new motor vehicle dealer
until the circuit court has rendered a decision on the matter. An action brought pursuant to this section shall be given precedence
over all other civil matters on the court's docket. The
manufacturer has the burden of proving that good cause exists for
establishing or relocating a proposed new motor vehicle dealer.
(4) This section does not apply to the reopening in a relevant
market area of a new motor vehicle dealer that has been closed
within the preceding two years if the established place of business
of the new motor vehicle dealer is within two miles of the
established place of business of the closed new motor vehicle
dealer.
(5) In determining whether good cause exists for establishing
or relocating an additional new motor vehicle dealer for the same
line-make, the court shall take into consideration the existing
circumstances, including, but not limited to, the following:
(a) Permanency and amount of the investment, including any
obligations incurred by the dealer in making the investment;
(b) Effect on the retail new motor vehicle business and the
consuming public in the relevant market area;
(c) Whether it is injurious or beneficial to the public
welfare;
(d) Whether the new motor vehicle dealers of the same
line-make in the relevant market area are providing adequate
competition and convenient consumer care for the motor vehicles of
that line-make in the market area, including the adequacy of motor
vehicle sales and qualified service personnel;
(e) Whether the establishment or relocation of the new motor
vehicle dealer would promote competition;
(f) Growth or decline of the population and the number of new
motor vehicle registrations in the relevant market area; and
(g) The effect on the relocating dealer of a denial of its
relocation into the relevant market area.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide, for purposes of
the statute regulating motor vehicle dealerships, that the terms
"relocate" and "relocation" do not include situations when an
existing vehicle dealer sells or transfers its dealership to a new
owner or dealer and the new owner or dealer relocates to a location
within two miles of the selling dealer's last open dealership
location.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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