2020 Georgia Code
Title 10 - Commerce and Trade
Chapter 1 - Selling and Other Trade Practices
Article 22 - Motor Vehicle Franchise Practices
Part 1 - General Consideration
§ 10-1-622. Definitions

As used in this article, the term:

(.1) "Consumer data" means "nonpublic personal information" as such term is defined in 15 U.S.C. Section 6809(4) as it existed on January 1, 2019, that is:

Collected by a dealer; and

Provided by the dealer directly to a manufacturer or third party acting on behalf of a manufacturer. Such term shall not include the same or similar data obtained by a manufacturer from any source other than the dealer or dealer's data management system.

(.2) "Data management system" means a computer hardware or software system that:

Is owned, leased, or licensed by a dealer, including a system of web based applications, computer software, or computer hardware;

Is located at the dealership or hosted remotely; and

Stores and provides access to consumer data collected or stored by a dealer.

Such term shall include, but shall not be limited to, dealership management systems and customer relations management systems.

1. "Dealer" means any person engaged in the business of selling, offering to sell, soliciting, or advertising the sale of new motor vehicles and who is licensed or otherwise authorized to utilize trademarks or service marks associated with one or more makes of motor vehicles in connection with such sales. The term "dealer" shall also include any person who engages exclusively in the repair of motor vehicles, except motor homes, if such repairs are performed pursuant to the terms of a franchise or other agreement with a franchisor or such repairs are performed as part of a manufacturer's or franchisor's warranty. The term "dealer" shall not mean any person engaged solely in the business of selling used motor vehicles.
2. "Dealership" means:
   1. The dealer, if the dealer is a corporation, partnership, or other business organization; or
   2. All business assets used in connection with the dealer's business pursuant to the franchise including, but not limited to, the dealership facilities, the franchise, inventory, accounts receivable, and good will if the dealer is an individual.
3. "Dealership facilities" means the location at which a dealer, pursuant to a franchise, maintains a permanent showroom for new motor vehicles.
4. "Designated successor" means any person or child who, in the case of the owner's death, is entitled to inherit the ownership interest in the dealership under the owner's will or who, in the case of an incapacitated owner, has been appointed by a court as the legal representative of the owner's property or has been otherwise lawfully nominated or constituted to manage the dealership on behalf of the owner.A "designated successor" may also mean a person specifically named in the franchise agreement or any addendum to the franchise agreement.
5. "Distributor" means any person, resident or nonresident, who directly or indirectly in the ordinary course of business and on a recurring basis sells such new motor vehicles to a dealer for resale if such person is the principal supplier of any make of motor vehicle for two or more dealers.
6. "Franchise" means the written agreement or contract between any franchisor and any dealer which purports to fix the legal rights and liabilities of the parties to such agreement or contract and pursuant to which the dealer purchases and resells motor vehicles or leases or rents the dealership facilities. A franchisor is prohibited from effectuating through any letter, memo, or other document or electronic communication any action or terms that this article makes unlawful when included in a franchise agreement.
7. "Franchisor" means:
   1. Any person, resident or nonresident, who directly or indirectly licenses or otherwise authorizes one or more dealers to use a trademark or service mark associated with a make of motor vehicle in connection with the retail sale of new motor vehicles bearing such trademark or service mark;
   2. Any person who in the ordinary course of business and on a recurring basis sells such new motor vehicles to a dealer for resale; and
   3. Any person, other than a person who finances the purchase or lease of motor vehicles, who is controlled by a franchisor or more than 10 percent owned by a franchisor, as that term is defined in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph.
8. "Good faith" means honesty in fact and the observation of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing in the trade as defined in Code Section 11-1-201.

   (8.1) "Line-make" is a collection of models, series, or groups of motor vehicles manufactured by or for a particular manufacturer, distributor, or importer that are offered for sale, lease, or distribution pursuant to a common brand name or mark; provided, however:

   1. Multiple brand names or marks may constitute a single line-make, but only when included in a common dealer agreement and the manufacturer, distributor, or importer offers such vehicles bearing the multiple names or marks together only, and not separately, to its authorized dealers; and
   2. Motor vehicles bearing a common brand name or mark may constitute separate line-makes when pertaining to motor vehicles subject to separate dealer agreements or when such vehicles are intended for different types of use.
9. "Manufacturer" means any person who performs the major portion of the assembly of a new motor vehicle.
10. "Motor vehicle" means every self-propelled vehicle intended primarily for use and operation on the public highways, except farm tractors and other machines and tools used in the production, harvesting, and care of farm products, construction equipment, and recreational vehicles as defined in paragraph (5) of subsection (a) of Code Section 10-1-679.
11. "New motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle on which the original motor vehicle title has not been issued.
12. "Owner" means any person holding an ownership interest in a dealership.
13. "Person" means every natural person, partnership, corporation, association, trust, estate, or any other legal entity.

    (13.1) "Relevant market area" means the area located within an eight-mile radius of an existing dealership.

14. "Warrantor" means any person who gives a warranty in connection with a new motor vehicle.
15. "Warranty" means a written document signed or authorized by the party on whose behalf it is given which is made or given incident to the sale or lease of a new motor vehicle which contains either statements or promises that said new motor vehicle meets or will meet certain standards or promises to perform certain repairs or other services in connection with said new motor vehicle if necessary.Such term does not include service contracts, mechanical or other insurance, or "extended warranties" sold for separate consideration by a dealer or other person not controlled by a manufacturer or distributor.

(Code 1981, §10-1-622, enacted by Ga. L. 1993, p. 1585, § 2; Ga. L. 1999, p. 1194, § 1; Ga. L. 2005, p. 1233, § 1/SB 155; Ga. L. 2010, p. 988, § 2/HB 1072; Ga. L. 2015, p. 951, § 1/HB 393; Ga. L. 2015, p. 996, § 3C-3/SB 65; Ga. L. 2017, p. 774, § 10/HB 323; Ga. L. 2019, p. 517, § 1/SB 122; Ga. L. 2020, p. 493, § 10/SB 429.)

The 2015 amendments. The first 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, deleted "which has been sold to a dealer and" following "a motor vehicle" in paragraph (11). The second 2015 amendment, effective January 1, 2016, substituted "as defined in Code Section 11-1-201" for "as defined and interpreted in Code Section 11-1-203" at the end of paragraph (8).

The 2017 amendment, effective May 9, 2017, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised language in paragraph (8.1).

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, added paragraphs (.1) and (.2).

The 2020 amendment, effective July 29, 2020, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted "15 U.S.C. Section 6809(4)" for "15 U.S.C. s. 6809(4)" in paragraph (.1).

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1999, capitalization was revised in paragraph (6).

- Ga. L. 2010, p. 988, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "WHEREAS, the General Assembly desires to reaffirm the legislative findings and declarations set forth in Code Section 10-1-621 and to make changes to the Georgia Motor Vehicle Franchise Practices Act in an effort to promote the stability of franchised motor vehicle dealerships in this state, thereby maintaining necessary reliable services to the consuming public, maintaining full and fair competition among dealers in the public interest, and providing continued employment to the citizens of this state."

Ga. L. 2015, p. 996, § 1-1/SB 65, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "(a) This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Debtor-Creditor Uniform Law Modernization Act of 2015.'

"(b) To promote consistency among the states, it is the intent of the General Assembly to modernize certain existing uniform laws promulgated by the Uniform Law Commission affecting debtor and creditor rights, responsibilities, and relationships and other federally recognized laws affecting such rights, responsibilities, and relationships."

- For annual survey on business corporations, see 64 Mercer L. Rev. 61 (2012). For article on the 2015 amendment of this Code section, see 32 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 23 (2015).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Franchise agreement not created.

- Acknowledgment document between automobile dealer and automobile manufacturer did not meet the definitional requirements of the Motor Vehicle Franchise Practices Act, O.C.G.A. § 10-1-620 et seq., and neither the intent of the parties nor their acknowledged course of conduct could create a statutory franchise agreement between them where none was executed. Hoyt's Cycle Store, Inc. v. American Suzuki Motor Corp., 202 Ga. App. 15, 413 S.E.2d 455 (1991), cert. denied, 202 Ga. App. 906, 413 S.E.2d 455 (1992).

- Franchisee did not have standing to seek to enjoin the establishment of a competing dealership within eight miles of the franchisee's service center because: (1) for purposes of the statute, the franchisee's relevant market area was the area within eight miles of an existing dealership; (2) "dealership" meant the "person" of the corporate franchisee; (3) the franchisee's principal place of business and registered office were at a location other than the service center, which location was more than eight miles from the new dealership's proposed location; so, (4) under the plain language of O.C.G.A. § 10-1-664(b), the service center was not, by definition, an existing dealership in whose relevant market area the franchisor intended to establish a new dealership since, under O.C.G.A. § 10-1-622(1) and (2)(A), "dealership" or "dealer" was defined as the "person," which in this case was a corporation, and a corporate "dealership" or "dealer" was not defined according to the corporation's facilities. WMW, Inc. v. Am. Honda Motor Co., 311 Ga. App. 1, 714 S.E.2d 689 (2011).

Under the Georgia Motor Vehicle Franchise Practices Act, O.C.G.A. § 10-1-620 et seq., a corporate dealership's relevant market area, the area for which the dealer has standing to resist competition by a new or relocated dealership of the same franchisor, is the area located within an eight-mile radius of where a dealer qualified as such because the dealer is engaged in the business of selling new motor vehicles, sells those vehicles, or where a dealer qualified as such because the dealer engages exclusively in the repair of motor vehicles. WMW, Inc. v. Am. Honda Motor Co., 291 Ga. 683, 733 S.E.2d 269 (2012).

- Paragraph (11) of O.C.G.A. § 10-1-622 applies to transactions between automobile manufacturers and their franchisees not to transactions between car dealers and their retail customers. Toirkens v. Willett Toyota, Inc., 192 Ga. App. 109, 384 S.E.2d 218 (1989).

Finance company was not a franchisor and could not be liable under the Georgia Motor Vehicle Dealer's Day in Court Act, O.C.G.A. § 10-1-630 et seq. Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. v. Stovall Nissan, Inc., 224 Ga. App. 295, 480 S.E.2d 322 (1997).

Cited in Coffee v. GMAC, 5 F. Supp. 2d 1365 (S.D. Ga. 1998).