March 2017 | Business View Magazine

78 79 1970s: New NADA initiatives With the increase in imports, trade became an issue in Congress and elsewhere. In 1970, NADA went on record opposing a trade bill that would have imposed quotas if imports reached a certain percentage of the market. But the 1970 Clean Air Act and the 1973 energy crisis had the greatest effects on car sales. By 1974, sales of midsized cars were so poor that NADA ran ads to promote them.NADA supported voluntary energy conservation measures, rather than mandatory ones such as gas taxes and ra- tioning.Nonetheless, CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards were first set in 1977, and a gas-guzzler tax was passed the next year. One piece of NADA-backed legislation that benefited consumers and dealers alike was the anti-odometer tampering amendment of 1972, which prohibited the sale of devices that could change the odometer mileage and operation of vehicles with disconnected odometers. In 1986, NADA worked for the passage of another odometer law requiring a record of a vehicle’s mileage when it changed owners. Several NADA divisions and initiatives were added during the decade.This included the Amer- ican Truck Dealers Division (1970), the industry relations department (mid-1970s) to work with automakers, and the NADA Legal Defense Fund (1975) to provide financial and legal assistance. 1980s: Emergency measures By 1979, with sky-high interest rates and dou- ble-digit inflation, car dealers were in real trou- ble. NADA urged President Carter to decontrol oil prices and sought emergency measures from automakers, such as 30-day floorplan assistance The NADA Story 1980 - Expo hall at the NADA Convention in the New Orleans Superdome, the first time the equip- ment expowas fully carpeted. Workshopswere held on the second level. In 1977, NADAwas the first trade show ever at the Superdome. and cash incentives to dealers for slow-moving models to help with cash flow problems caused by bloated inventories. In 1980, NADA asked Carter to take action to stimulate new-car and -truck sales. Responding to NADA proposals, Carter increased the Small Business Administration loan guarantee fund for car and truck dealers so that 95 percent of dealers were eligible. After one of the most convoluted rulemak- ing odysseys in modern history, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a rule requiring dealers to post a sticker on used cars telling customers whether the car came “as is” or with a warranty, along with other information. The first federal version was proposed in 1976, and NADA fought mandated inspections and war- ranties for five years as “nebulous, ambiguous, and unworkable.”After NADA sued the FTC, a toned-down version of the rule was issued in 1984, without the provisions for mandated inspection and disclosure of condition of more than 50 components and a history of who previ- ously owned the car and how it was used. For the most part, the 1980s saw dealers caught up in the problems facing a wide range of businesses brought about by concern over the disposal and cleanup of hazardous waste, disposition of leaking underground storage tanks, money-laundering rules that required reporting of cash transactions greater than $10,000, and never-ending tax battles. But most 1977 - Year the gull- wing DeLorean was displayed at the NADA con- vention (eight years before its starring role in Back to the Future).