Legislative Affairs

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently finalized its Vehicle Shopping Rule “VSR” (also known as the “CARS” Rule) that would overwhelm car buyers and small businesses with needless and additional costs, paperwork and a lengthened sales process affecting over 40 million consumer vehicle transactions per year. The FTC finalized the rule amid ongoing congressional oversight into the agency’s vast regulatory overreach in proposing the rule, its lack of credible data-driven analysis, and significant process flaws. The FTC’s rule would make the auto buying experience worse, not better, for consumers. NADA supports efforts to stop the FTC from enforcing the flawed VSR in the FY 2025 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations bill.

NADA also supports the “FTC REDO Act” (H.R. 7101/S. 3014) which would stop the VSR and require the FTC to follow certain procedures to ensure the rule is the result of an informed process if it chooses to “REDO” the rule. The bill requires the FTC to 1) issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking; 2) conduct a quantitative study on auto retailing; 3) undertake consumer testing; and 4) publish a cost benefit analysis based on actual data. The FTC failed to perform these essential steps before finalizing its rule. Members of Congress are urged to cosponsor the “FTC REDO Act” to stop the flawed VSR and prevent the FTC from needlessly imposing significant burdens and costs on consumers and small business dealers.         

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The Biden Administration has finalized a new regulation that could effectively require 56% of car sales be electric by 2032. New car and truck dealers are essential to sell and service electric vehicles (EVs) and already have spent or committed to spend $10 billion of their own capital in EV inventory and special tools, equipment, training, and recharging infrastructure needed for these vehicles. However, the charging infrastructure is not ready, the current incentives are not sufficient, and high EV prices will price out millions of consumers, particularly low-income Americans, from the new-car market.

Our experience working with consumers every day makes us highly skeptical that consumers will adopt EVs anywhere near the levels required in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule. NADA supports S. 4072, a bill which would stop the EPA from spending funds in FY 2024 to implement its Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles for MY 2027 and Later. This bill would give the administration time to track actual EV sales versus projections and make necessary adjustments to its requirements to reflect actual consumer demand. On April 18, S. 4072 garnered a majority of the Senate with a 52-46 vote, but a 60-vote threshold was needed for passage. Significantly three Democratic Senators and an Independent voted in support. NADA will ask members of Congress to support efforts to counter EPA’s overly aggressive de facto EV mandate.

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