National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Chairman Mark Scarpelli praised new car dealerships for preserving vehicle affordability during his speech at the recent 2018 NADA show in Las Vegas.
Standing up for affordability, customer rights, common sense, and a good business model is a message the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau heard, Scarpelli said.
Scarpelli was referencing the bureau’s 2013 decision to issue auto-lending guidance that would eliminate dealer flexibility to offer discounted auto-loan rates.
Currently, NADA’s biggest challenge is the federal tax reform bill that became law in December. The law increased the estate tax exemption, and preserved advertising deductibility, 100-percent deductibility on floor-plan loans and the last-in, first-out accounting method.
“The stakes for our businesses are enormous: When taxes increase, jobs at dealerships decrease; Our capital investments decrease; And prices for consumers increase,” Scarpelli said. “If we had not preserved floor-plan deductibility, a lot of dealerships would be paying more in taxes for years to come. Many would hope to simply break even. Many more would suffer crippling losses. Because the original tax bill slashed interest deductibility by 30 percent.”
NADA successful advocated against a proposed 2014 bill that would have required the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration make all reports available to the public.