The U.S. economy may be faltering, but the metropolitan Washington area appears to be fighting off the setback better than most regions of the country. According to two recent financial reports, home prices here, unlike in the rest of the U.S., have risen rather than fallen and consumers are being more diligent about reducing debt. Further, the Washington area continues to benefit from government spending, which is driving some job growth regionally. [FULL ARTICLE]

The federal government's program to subsidize COBRA payments for involuntarily terminated workers came to an end on May 31. The grace period for such former employees to apply for the subsidy continues, however, along with the special COBRA coverage for former employees still in the subsidy queue. Accordingly, employers are reminded that they remain liable for COBRA subsidy compliance and are cautioned to be extra careful in providing the coverage and negotiating the complex filing processes of the program for those former employees who are currently participating. In the extreme, this could be for 15 months of subsidy administration for an employee terminated the end of May, 2010. [FULL ARTICLE]

WANADA's Automobile Dealer Education Institute (ADEI) welcomed its newest class of aspiring automobile technicians to its annual luncheon and orientation this past Wednesday, August 11 at Montgomery College in Rockville, MD. The event was a good opportunity for new students to become acquainted with the program and veteran students to acclimate for the start of fall classes at the end of this month. [FULL ARTICLE]

The July lift in new vehicle sales reflected an annualized rate to 11.9 million and the best sales month since Cash for Clunkers in August 2009. It also bodes well for a strong second half of 2010 new vehicle sales, according to the people who measure these things. Buttressed by more available consumer credit and automaker car buyer incentives - with discounts 3.8% higher than a year ago - the gains in July indicate sales are steadily improving. [FULL ARTICLE]

Washington Auto Show (WAS) organizers gathered representatives from the regional media companies recently in the first step of its plan to build a dynamic advertising and marketing campaign for the 2011 WAS that will run for a full ten days beginning the end of January. [FULL ARTICLE]

Washington Auto Show (WAS) organizers held the space draw for next year last week and it is now evident that the 2011 WAS will be a larger, more diverse show. The domestic OEMs, GM, Ford and Chrysler, boosted the square footage of their exhibits, taking all the space available on the top exhibition floor of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and formed a "Detroit Three" grouping for the first time at the WAS. [FULL ARTICLE]

The Senate signed onto sweeping financial overhaul legislation yesterday, making the passage of Finance Reform by Congress official, and delivering to President Obama another "check off" on his ambitious public policy agenda. The House had already passed the bill before the July 4 recess. [FULL ARTICLE]

The odyssey that has been the long and circuitous route of Finance Reform in Congress, which first passed the House last November, is all but at an end with the Senate expected to follow the House in adopting the Conference Committee Report, thereby passing the legislation, perhaps as soon as next week. America’s dealers, who argued tenaciously and successfully to lawmakers that they didn’t belong in legislation directed at banks, ultimately prevailed by being affirmatively excluded from it. [FULL ARTICLE]

Attendees at the first joint MADA/VADA state dealer convention got a healthy dose of optimism about the future of the automobile business from an upbeat OEM leadership panel, headlined by Ford president and CEO Alan Mulally, who outlined a variety of steps taken by his company to resurge from the global recession and avoid Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009, which befell other domestic automakers. He pointed to Ford's new vehicle products as a "lineup that excites the consumer's imagination," while setting the pace on new vehicle innovation. Overall, Mulally saw the automobile industry, at large, gaining momentum over the next several years and being a positive force in the near term economic recovery. [FULL ARTICLE]

The nation's automobile dealers will not be subject to regulation under the proposed Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) as part of Finance Reform legislation agreed to by House and Senate conferees this week. Instead, they may be subject to closer scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which already oversees their financial activities under the Truth in Lending Regulations, Regulation M and other consumer protection rules. This extra measure of FTC regulatory oversight of dealers, now adopted by the conferees, is only triggered when the agency identifies consumer protection problems, at which point it can do rulemaking.
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Franchised auto dealers will have to wait at least another week before they know whether F&I operations will be further regulated under Finance Reform legislation now being hammered out in a conference between the House and Senate. That reality became evident the minute the cameras began rolling on the televised proceeding and as those for and against Finance Reform staked out their positions in prickly exchanges that highlighted the large philosophical distance between them. [FULL ARTICLE]