Please refer to Governing Statutes for more information. “Not specified” indicates that an issue is not addressed specifically in the particular statutes. Please send any updates to editors@dealernews.com

ALABAMA – Good cause, six months’ notice and cure. Enumerated compensation requirements specifically exclude motorcycle dealers.

ALASKA – Good cause, 60 days’ notice and cure.

ARIZONA – Good cause, seven legal elements.

ARKANSAS – Just cause, 11 legal elements.

CALIFORNIA – Good cause, seven legal elements, compensation requirements.

Please refer to Governing Statutes for more information. “Not specified” indicates that an issue is not addressed specifically in the particular statutes. Please send any updates to editors@dealernews.com

ALABAMA – The area within a radius of 20 miles around an existing dealer or the area of responsibility defined in the franchise, whichever is greater; except that, where a manufacturer is seeking to establish an additional new motor vehicle dealer and there are one or more existing new motor vehicle dealers of the same line make within a 10-mile radius of the proposed dealer site, the relevant market area shall in all instances be the area within a radius of 10 miles around an existing dealer. OEM may not “assign or change a dealer’s area of responsibility under the franchise or dealer agreement arbitrarily or without due regard to the present or projected future pattern of motor vehicle sales and registrations within the dealer’s market area and without first having provided the dealer with written notice of the change in the dealer’s area of responsibility and a detailed description of the change and reasons therefor.”

ALASKA – not specified

ARIZONA – 10 miles “by the shortest street route,” 20 miles in counties with fewer than 200,000 residents. “Area of responsibility” means the area surrounding an individual dealer that the factory designates as that dealer’s individual primary geographic territory for the purpose of marketing, promoting, selling and leasing new motor vehicles. In the absence of the factory designated area, the area of responsibility is that geographical area surrounding a dealer that lies closer to that dealer than to other dealers of the same line-make.

ARKANSAS – 10 mile radius; change of DAT requires 30 days’ notice.

CALIFORNIA – Generally, the RMA “is any area within a radius of 10 miles from the site of a potential new dealership.” For purposes of allotments, “a geographic area specified in a franchise that is used by the franchisor for the purpose of evaluating the franchisee’s performance of its sales and service obligations.”

Please refer to Governing Statutes for more information. “Not specified” indicates that an issue is not addressed specifically in the particular statutes. Please send any updates to editors@dealernews.com

ALABAMA – Must be reasonable.

ALASKA – Not specified

ARIZONA – … “reasonable and justifiable in light of current and reasonably foreseeable economic conditions…or unless the alteration is reasonably required to effectively display and service a vehicle based on the technology of the vehicle.”

ARKANSAS – Incentive penalties allowed for refusing renovation after seven years.

CALIFORNIA – Manufacturer may not “require, by contract or otherwise, a dealer to make a material alteration, expansion, or addition to any dealership facility, unless the required alteration, expansion, or addition is reasonable in light of all existing circumstances, including economic conditions and advancements in vehicular technology.”

Please refer to Governing Statutes for more information. “Not specified” indicates that an issue is not addressed specifically in the particular statutes. Please send any updates to editors@dealernews.com

ALABAMA – Not specified

ALASKA – A manufacturer may not require, coerce, or attempt to coerce a new motor vehicle dealer to change the location of the new motor vehicle dealership or to make any substantial alterations to the new motor vehicle dealership premises or facilities if the change or alteration would be unreasonable or if there is not a sufficient supply of new motor vehicles to justify the expansion in light of the current market and economic conditions.

ARIZONA – Not allowed as a condition of business.

ARKANSAS – Reasonable and justifiable in light of the current and reasonably foreseeable projections of economic conditions, financial expectations and the motor vehicle dealer’s market. In a denial of franchise relocation, the burden of proof is on the manufacturer or distributor to show it has good cause for granting the new franchise, except when an existing franchisee initiated the relocation.

CALIFORNIA – Not specified

Please refer to Governing Statutes for more information. “Not specified” indicates that an issue is not addressed specifically in the particular statutes. Please send any updates to editors@dealernews.com

ALABAMA – Not specified

ALASKA – Not specified

ARIZONA – A factory may require a dealer to purchase reasonable quantities of advertising materials, purchase reasonable quantities of special tools required to properly service a motor vehicle and undertake reasonable salesperson or service person training related to the motor vehicle as a condition of receiving a motor vehicle.

ARKANSAS – Dealer may choose vendor of renovation materials.

CALIFORNIA – “A required facility alteration, expansion, or addition shall not be deemed reasonable if it requires that the dealer purchase goods or services from a specific vendor when goods or services of substantially similar kind, quality, and general design concept are available from another vendor.” OEMs may require approval.

Please refer to Governing Statutes for more information. “Not specified” indicates that an issue is not addressed specifically in the particular statutes. Please send any updates to editors@dealernews.com

ALABAMA – Manufacturer “must disclose upon written request therefor, the basis upon which new motor vehicles of the same line-make are allocated or distributed to motor vehicle dealers in the state and the basis upon which the current allocation or distribution is being made or will be made to such motor vehicle dealer.

ALASKA – Not specified

ARIZONA – Not specified

ARKANSAS – Not specified

CALIFORNIA – Not specified

Please refer to Governing Statutes for more information. “Not specified” indicates that an issue is not addressed specifically in the particular statutes. Please send any updates to editors@dealernews.com

ALABAMA – Court system

ALASKA – Alaska court system

ARIZONA – Department-appointed administrative law judge

ARKANSAS – AMVB dealers may recover attorneys’ fees upon prevailing

CALIFORNIA – New Motor Vehicle Board

Statutes and other rules from all 50 states create a complicated quilt of Dealer protections

By Holly J. Wagner, Senior Editor

IN BUSINESS, there’s no substitute for a good lawyer, and one need only look at statutes governing Dealer-OEM relations for proof.

Of course, it all depends on where a Dealer does business. In many states, motorcycle Dealers are covered under “New Motor Vehicle Dealer” statutes that were written for automotive retail. Eight states have laws that specifically address powersports Dealers. Another 17 states have “Franchised Dealer” statutes that define a Dealer agreement as a franchise agreement, regardless of what an OEM wants to call it.

Dealer-OEM relations may also be covered by multiple laws within a state. Some Dealer statutes are the “final word” on motor vehicle retail matters. In other states, Dealers may be covered by additional state laws governing franchise or other business relationships. Clearly, when it comes to a dispute, a Dealer’s attorney may have multiple legal avenues with varying chances of success.

More states are adding powersports-specific laws. In 2013, just six states (Colorado, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Utah and Washington) had powersports-specific laws. Since then, South Carolina and Virginia have added either separate laws or separate sections for powersports Dealers under their motor vehicle Dealer laws.

Franchise Laws: By State

A DEALERNEWS SPECIAL REPORT: In the same way some motorcycle dealers have leveraged their powersports branding to expand into new territory such as personal watercraft, scooters or side-by-sides, e-bikes could help a growth-minded dealer expand to reach a whole new, but related customer segment. But there are several things to consider before taking action.

By David Kopf

HISTORY REALLY DOES repeat itself. Tracing the roots of the motorcycle—a.k.a. the motorbike—all the way back to its seed, we arrive at the bicycle. Depending on which invention you start with, roughly three decades before the turn of the 20th Century, someone got so sick of pedaling (most likely uphill) that he finally said in sweaty exasperation, “this stupid thing really needs an engine.”

From there, Hildebrand & Wolfmüller produced the first production motorcycle in 1894, and shortly thereafter bicycle maker Excelsior started a line of “motor-bicycles” in 1896 that became so successful that they changed their name to Excelsior Motor Co. less than two decades later in 1910. From there, the rest, as the cliché goes, was history. A new mode of transportation was born, a new sport was born, and a new industry was born.