Agreements between automobile manufacturers and dealerships prohibiting export of new automobiles

Agreements between automobile manufacturers and dealerships prohibiting export of

new automobiles.

3. Automobile manufacturers, including Mercedes Benz, General Motors, Toyota,

Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche, have long-standing contractual agreements with their dealerships

that new automobiles made for sale inside the United States may not be sold to individuals or

companies intending to export the new automobiles outside the United States

4. Automobile manufacturers impose this prohibition on not exporting new automobiles

because unauthorized exports of their new automobiles cause numerous financial problems to the

manufacturers by creating problems in the manufacturers’ distribution markets, causing market

infringement problems, harming franchise dealerships, and causing problems relating to vehicle

recall registration and service.

5. The contractual agreements between automobile manufacturers and dealerships carry

monetary penalties, commonly called “charge backs,” which automobile manufacturers may assess

against dealerships if the manufacturers determine that dealerships are selling new automobiles to

purchasers who intend to export them rather than use them in the United States.

6. In order to determine whether new automobiles are being exported in violation of

these contractual agreements, automobile manufacturers monitor export documents and records at

ports throughout the United States. Automobile manufacturers hire a company, PIERS, a division

of UBM Global Trade, Inc., to collect such documents and records, in part so that the manufacturers

can determine whether new automobiles are being exported in violation of their agreements with

dealerships not to do so.

7. Automobile manufacturers have assessed monetary and other penalties against

automobile dealerships, including those listed above in paragraph 3, when the manufacturers

determine that the dealerships have sold new automobiles which were exported directly from the

United States.

8. Many dealerships, in order to avoid penalties under their contractual agreements with

manufacturers not to sell new automobiles which will be exported, take additional steps in dealing

with customers to obtain assurances from customers that the customers are not going to export the

new automobiles. These additional steps sometimes require that purchasers of automobiles sign

statements, commonly called “do not export agreements,” that they do not intend to export the new

automobiles after purchasing them.