Auto dealers challenge new US FTC car-buyer consumer protection rules

The FTC said the new rules will ban bait-and-switch advertising tactics, prohibit charging for add-on costs that do not benefit consumers and require dealers to make key disclosures to consumers, including accurate pricing disclosures in advertising and sales communications.

The rules were first proposed in 2022 and will take effect on July 30. They also require dealers to keep records of certain advertisements and customer transactions.

The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and Texas Automobile Dealers Association late Thursday asked the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to block the new rules that “comprehensively regulates the advertising, sales, and financing of vehicles by auto dealers” saying they are “arbitrary, capricious (and) an abuse of discretion.”

The FTC declined to comment.