SF 305

1st Engrossment - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to commerce; motor vehicle sales and 
  1.3             distribution; regulating the establishment and 
  1.4             relocation of dealerships; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.5             1994, section 80E.14. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 80E.14, is 
  1.8   amended to read: 
  1.9      80E.14 [LIMITATIONS ON ESTABLISHING OR RELOCATING 
  1.10  DEALERSHIPS.] 
  1.11     Subdivision 1.  [NOTIFICATION; PROTEST; HEARING.] In the 
  1.12  event that a manufacturer seeks to enter into a franchise 
  1.13  establishing an additional new motor vehicle dealership or 
  1.14  relocating an existing new motor vehicle dealership within or 
  1.15  into a relevant market area where the line make is then 
  1.16  represented, the manufacturer shall, in writing, first notify 
  1.17  each new motor vehicle dealer in this line make in the relevant 
  1.18  market area of the intention to establish an additional 
  1.19  dealership or to relocate an existing dealership within or into 
  1.20  that market area.  The relevant market area is a radius of ten 
  1.21  miles around an existing dealership.  Within 15 days of 
  1.22  receiving the notice or within 15 days after the end of any 
  1.23  appeal procedure provided by the manufacturer, the new motor 
  1.24  vehicle dealership may commence a civil action in a court of 
  1.25  competent jurisdiction pursuant to section 80E.17 challenging 
  2.1   the establishing or relocating of the new motor vehicle 
  2.2   dealership.  An action brought under this section shall be 
  2.3   placed on the calendar ahead of other civil actions to be heard 
  2.4   and determined as expeditiously as possible.  Thereafter the 
  2.5   manufacturer shall not establish or relocate the proposed new 
  2.6   motor vehicle dealership unless the court has determined that 
  2.7   there is good cause for permitting the establishment or 
  2.8   relocation of the motor vehicle dealership.  
  2.9      For the purposes of this section, the reopening in a 
  2.10  relevant market area of a new motor vehicle dealership within 
  2.11  two miles of a location at which a former dealership of the same 
  2.12  line make had been in operation within the previous two years 
  2.13  shall not be deemed the establishment of a new motor vehicle 
  2.14  dealership if the reopening is carried out in good faith and 
  2.15  does not violate the provisions of section 80E.13, paragraph (i).
  2.16     The relocation of an existing dealer within its area of 
  2.17  responsibility as defined in the franchise agreement shall not 
  2.18  be subject to this section, if the proposed relocation site is 
  2.19  within five miles of its existing location and is not within a 
  2.20  radius of five miles of an existing dealer of the same line make.
  2.21     A manufacturer's establishment or approval of an additional 
  2.22  new motor vehicle sales location by its line make dealer is 
  2.23  considered the establishment of a new motor vehicle dealership 
  2.24  subject to the requirements of this section. 
  2.25     Subd. 2.  [GOOD CAUSE.] In determining whether good cause 
  2.26  has been established for entering into or relocating an 
  2.27  additional franchise for the same line make, the court shall 
  2.28  take into consideration the existing circumstances, including, 
  2.29  but not limited to: 
  2.30     (a) The extent, nature, and permanency of the investment of 
  2.31  the proposed new dealership and the existing motor vehicle 
  2.32  dealer dealers of the same line make in the relevant market 
  2.33  area; 
  2.34     (b) The effect on the retail new motor vehicle business and 
  2.35  the consuming public in the relevant market area; 
  2.36     (c) Whether it is injurious to existing new motor vehicle 
  3.1   dealers of the same line make in the relevant market area and 
  3.2   the public welfare for an additional new motor dealership to be 
  3.3   established; 
  3.4      (d) Whether the new motor vehicle dealers of the same line 
  3.5   make in that relevant market area are providing adequate 
  3.6   competition and convenient consumer care for the motor vehicles 
  3.7   of the line make in the market area including the adequacy of 
  3.8   motor vehicle sales and service facilities, equipment, supply of 
  3.9   motor vehicle parts, and qualified service personnel; 
  3.10     (e) Whether the new motor vehicle dealers of the same line 
  3.11  make in the relevant market area are providing adequate market 
  3.12  penetration and representation; provided, that good cause shall 
  3.13  not be shown solely by a desire for further market penetration; 
  3.14     (f) Whether the establishment of an additional new motor 
  3.15  vehicle dealership would increase competition, and therefore be 
  3.16  in the public interest; 
  3.17     (g) The growth or decline in population and new car 
  3.18  registrations in the relevant market area; 
  3.19     (h) The effect the proposed new dealership would have on 
  3.20  the provision of stable, adequate, and reliable sales and 
  3.21  service to purchasers of the same line make in the relevant 
  3.22  market area; and 
  3.23     (i) The effect the proposed new dealership would have on 
  3.24  the stability of existing franchises of the same line make in 
  3.25  the relevant market area.