As we accelerate into 2025, it’s important to reflect on CNCDA’s purpose: to protect and promote the franchise dealer system. Your dealership’s success is the foundation of our work; everything we do is focused on ensuring that your business remains strong. It is CNCDA’s responsibility to ensure your dealerships’ continued success — a mission we don’t take lightly.

At the association’s Strategic Planning Retreat in 2022, a group of dealers gathered with association leadership to establish a set of guiding priorities for our association over the next 3-5 years in alignment with our overall mission.

I am proud to say that with hard work and focus our team has already accomplished many of these goals in the last two years alone.

• AB 473 Increased Franchise Protections: In 2023, CNCDA introduced AB 473. As one of the first of its kind in the nation, the bill enacts strict protections for our dealers, preventing manufacturers from bypassing their franchise network, among other provisions. This law has become a critical tool in our current disputes with Volkswagen’s Scout brand and ensures our members don’t have to compete with their manufacturers who may want to offer direct-to-consumer sales. AB 473 maintains a fair and competitive market for California’s dealers, and many other states are now using it as a successful model for their members.
• PAGA Reform: We tackled California’s wage and hour laws, specifically PAGA. We successfully negotiated a deal that culminated in Gov. Newsom signing legislative reform on July 1, 2024. This was an incredible victory for our dealers and a benefit for California’s business community. CNCDA dealers spearheaded the charge here, and in the process, we led the broader business community to secure real reform.
• Revenue Growth: Next, we acknowledged the need to increase the association’s revenue. This was essential to provide the level of service and advocacy our dealers expect. Last year, we passed a phased dues increase. We also prioritized vendor relationships, which resulted in raising revenue significantly and providing additional benefits to our vendor partners. These resources are crucial to executing our initiatives and protecting your interests.
• Document Processing Charge (DPC) — SB 791: Currently, one of our critical issues is adjusting California’s document processing charge. We are introducing bill SB 791 this year to address the issue of California’s DPC being currently the lowest in the country by a wide margin. Our plan is to simply ask for a fair and reasonable increase to meet the national average to cover our dealers’ costs but with mindfulness toward consumers. Our team is working hard on this, and we’ve placed it as one of our top issues for Dealer Day this year. We have a strong strategy in place, and with your participation and support we are optimistic that we will make progress this year.
• CARB ZEV Mandates — CALIBRATE: Finally, we can’t ignore the existential threat to our industry: the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC 2) mandate that requires 100% Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) sales by 2035. I’m sure many of you are hearing from your OEMs about this, and we know it’s going to be a challenge.

  We’ve launched a Public Affairs campaign to push back against this aggressive regulation called CALIBRATE. CNCDA is fully engaged in this fight and we are prepared to educate Californians about the perilous consequences of this mandate. Please visit www.calibrateca.org for all the details and to help spread the word. 

Looking ahead, we’ll continue to focus on completing these strategic priorities. 2025 will be a critical year for CNCDA, and with your continued participation and support, I’m confident we’ll accomplish our goals. When we accomplish the last of these goals, we’ll be able to regroup again for another Strategic Planning Retreat and set the course for the future of our association.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment and support,

Brian Maas, President
California New Car Dealers Association