Pub. 16 2017-2018 Issue 3

N E W J E R S E Y C O A L I T I O N O F A U T O M O T I V E R E T A I L E R S 9 new jersey auto retailer W W W . N J C A R . O R G V O Y N OW B A Y A R D W H Y T E A N D C OM PA N Y , L L P C E R T I F I E D P U B L I C A C C O U N T A N T S V O Y N OW B A Y A R D W H Y T E A N D C OM PA N Y , L L P C E R T I F I E D P U B L I C A C C O U N T A N T S The Northbrook Corporate Center • 1210 Northbrook Dr., Suite 140, Trevose PA 19053 Contact Hugh Whyte, Randall E. Franzen or Kenneth Mann: Financial Reporting & Projections/Forecasts Lifo Inventory Applications n Tax & Estate Planning Cash Management & Budgeting n Performance Evaluation Cost Analysis n Buy/Sell Agreements & Succession Planning Mergers & Acquisition s n Internal Control Design 215-355-8000 n voynowbayard.com Accountants & Management Advisors to the Auto Industry since 1954 500 public charging stations throughout the State. Building out a more substantial charging infrastructure that can handle hundreds of thousands of EVs is a must. But the heavy lifting MUST be done by auto manufacturers. They are not going to do anything voluntarily, which is why it is critical for NJ CAR and New Jersey’s franchised automotive retail com- munity to work with our elected officials to change New Jersey’s law to force manufacturers to take more responsibility. Dealers are the ONLY customers of the manufacturers and spend billions of dollars to PURCHASE vehicles (including EVs) to pop- ulate their lots with product. Forcing manufacturers to take more responsibility won’t be easy, especially because the government regulators responsible for the Cal-LEV program don’t seem to understand how the car business works. Analisa Bevan, Assistant Division Chief at the California Air Resources Board (CARB), writes the following in the article she provided for this issue of New Jersey Auto Retailer: The ZEV mandate is a requirement on automakers to produce and deliver ZEVs for sale. The concerned dealer will notice the nuance that they aren’t required to ensure the ZEVs are sold. And California was worried about that too in the early years and so the regulation, up through 2017, required that ZEVs be placed in service before the ZEV credits used to demonstrate compliance with the regulation were awarded to the automaker. This ensured there was ample motivation on the automaker to ensure that cars were priced right, that dealerships were supported with training and that automakers were marketing the ZEVs to attract customers. But in 2018, the regulation returns to the model of “produce and offer for sale.” So, what changed? Who advocated for the change? Were dealers and other stakeholders ever consulted? Ms. Bevan acknowledges in her article that the old rule required vehicles be put in service before manufacturers receive credit for the sale and that manufacturers had the incentive to equip and price EVs appropriately and provide support to their franchisees to help move EVs off dealer lots. But with the recent change, this is NOT the case. The manufacturers clearly snookered CARB into believing the “placed in service” mandate was unnecessary. But dealers, if they were consulted, would have advised Ms. Bevan and the other CARB regulators that manufacturers need to have more skin in the game if we stand any chance of meeting the clean car mandates. It will be extremely difficult to grow the electric and alternative technology vehicle market fromwhere it is today to where it needs to be in 2025 and beyond without an aggressive game plan involv- ing State and federal regulators, elected officials, public utilities, auto dealers and auto manufacturers. Dealers are doing their part to sell a greater number of EVs to consumers. It’s time other stakeholders step up to the plate and do more to place more EVs on New Jersey’s roads. If incentives and rebates for EVs increase, consumers will embrace them in greater numbers and dealers will be relentless in promoting, selling, and delivering EVs to more and more customers. After-all, dealers want to sell vehicles that consumers WANT to buy.