News

In light of a December 23, 2024, federal Court of Appeals decision, reporting companies, except as indicated below, are once again required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN. However, because the Department of the Treasury recognizes that reporting companies may need additional time to comply given the period when the preliminary injunction had been in effect, we have extended the reporting deadline as follows:

Beginning January 1, 2025, all Utah license plates will be centrally distributed to vehicle registered owners. This means that all license plates will be mailed directly to the customer through the US Postal Service.

No inventory of plates will be available in DMV offices, including the Utah State Tax Commission office and all third party DMV partners such as IDS. What does this mean for you as a dealer?

IDS will still be able to process all your paperwork for the customer that just purchased a vehicle from your dealership, but the plate will be distributed to the customer in a new process. When you bring paperwork to our office, the paperwork will be completed as usual in the DMV system. A license plate will be assigned to the customer and registration will be created at that time. As a dealer you have a couple options to get this registration to the customer.

For over 45 years, Wayne Jones has made significant contributions to the automotive industry through his work with Independent Dealer Solutions. Throughout this time, he has witnessed substantial changes and transitions within the industry, including the leadership of multiple directors and commissioners at the Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division (MVED).

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday set the stage for the central bank’s first rate cut in four years, citing greater progress toward lower inflation as well as a cooler job market that no longer threatens to overheat the economy.

Still, the Fed kept its key interest rate unchanged at a 23-year high of 5.3%, despite calls from some economists and Democratic politicians to implement a cut Wednesday. Instead, Powell said that, if inflation continues to fall, “a reduction in our policy rate could be on the table” when the Fed next meets Sept. 17-18.

June 4, 2024 – Independent Dealer Solutions, a trusted provider of comprehensive solutions for automotive dealerships since 1978, is pleased to announce its partnership with ScanForInfo, a leading innovator in QR code technology for the automotive industry. This strategic partnership combines Independent Dealer Solutions’ decades of expertise in providing dealerships with education, title processing, forms, resources, and supplies with ScanForInfo’s cutting-edge QR code labels and technology. These labels enable dealerships to seamlessly connect their physical inventory with online vehicle detail pages, revolutionizing the in-person shopping experience for customers and empowering dealerships to drive business growth and increase sales.

There is only one week remaining of the 2023 Utah Legislative Session. Committee meetings end on Tuesday and the floor time for the House and Senate will go later into the evening, with it all ending on next Friday at midnight. Although the session is only forty-five days, the Utah Legislature is able to accomplish a lot. There have already been over 800 bills filed for the session with the anticipation of 500 of those bills being heard and passed. The legislature also made public the near $28 billion dollar budget for the state. It includes nearly $1 billion in ongoing and one-time money for education, more than $400 million for water conservation, with a big focus on the Great Salt Lake, a tax cut package of $400 million, and over $200 million for affordable housing and homelessness in Utah.

Congress is just a couple months into their new legislative session. There are new congressman, new members in committees, and a change in power in the House of Representatives. For those that follow our state legislation, you will notice that Utah legislation moves quickly, due to only a 45 day session. Legislation on a federal scale will not be like legislation in Utah or any other state. Legislation in D.C. moves very slow, with very few bills making it through the entire process. Here is a quick overview of the current federal legislative bills that you should be aware. These bills were just introduced with most of them not having current text. We will provide additional updates each month on this federal legislation.

Week five of the 2023 Utah Legislative Session came to a close this week meaning there are only nine working days left of the session. The Legislature will be observing Monday, February 20th, as President’s Day, and will not be meeting on this day. The next two weeks we will see legislative committee meetings going later in the day, and time on the House and Senate floor extended. For this weeks updates, I have provided an update that is italicized and underlined making your reference to the updates easier.

Week four of the 2023 Legislative Session came to a close last week and included the half way point of the 2023 Legislative Session. There are now less than three weeks remaining in the session. There have been big pushes regarding water and water conservation. Other pushes still include schools and teacher salaries. Budget meetings have finalized giving way to state budgets to be finalized. There was one new substantial motor vehicle bill that was released during week four that will help clarify the processes during internet and out of state sales. This is SB 172, Vehicle Sales Amendments from Senator Don Ipson. Watch for details on this bill as the session continues.

Week three of the 2023 Legislative Session comes to a close and we will be approaching a half way point of the session next week. Appropriation meetings will end next week giving way to committee meetings both in the morning and afternoon. The process will begin moving much faster next week. As for this week of automotive legislation, here are the updates.



Motor Vehicle Dealer Requirements (HB194):

The original bill language prohibits a motor vehicle dealer from requiring a purchaser to pay, as a condition of the sale, a fee or charge in addition to the negotiated purchase, other than sales and use taxes, temporary permit fees, required title fees, and required registration fees. One item among others not initially included in the bill is Dealer Documentary Fees.

Immediately after the National Automobile Dealer Association wrapped up NADA Show 2023, the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association made a major move.

On Monday morning, NIADA and Buckeye Dealership Consulting announced an integration of the NIADA 20 Groups with Buckeye’s Dealer Performance Groups.

According to a news release, all existing Dealer Performance Groups, including those focusing on retail, buy-here, pay-here, service and finance, will move under the leadership of NIADA’s Dealer 20 Group program.

As week two of the legislative session comes to a close, we saw the legislature move fast on some major legislation in the state. This included legislation on two hot topics; schools and teacher salaries, as well as transgender issues. These discussion often took up much floor time and even included the House scheduling floor time during their lunch hour of 12pm-2pm. This is something that I have never seen. What does this mean for the rest of the legislation still to come this year? It means that two of the major topics of leadership are nearly completion, giving ample time for other topics. The remaining large topics include the budget, taxes and tax cuts, as well as water and the Great Salt Lake. Appropriation meetings for money should be coming to an end next week, giving way to the fast and the furious of both House and Senate committee meetings.

Motor Vehicle Dealer Requirements (HB194):

The original bill language prohibits a motor vehicle dealer from requiring a purchaser to pay, as a condition of the sale, a fee or charge in addition to the negotiated purchase, other than sales and use taxes, temporary permit fees, required title fees, and required registration fees. One item among others not initially included in the bill is Dealer Documentary Fees.

New-vehicle sales in January are expected to show a surprising gain when announced next week, even though market conditions have not appreciably changed. The January 2023 auto sales pace, or seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR), is expected to finish near 15.6 million, a large increase from December’s 13.3 million pace, according to a forecast released today by Cox Automotive. However, some of the gain is due to statistical adjustments that correct for expected fewer sales in January and February.

Getting a $7,500 tax break for the purchase of a new electric vehicle will likely get harder in a few months — meaning prospective buyers who want the financial incentive may wish to speed up their timeline.  

The Inflation Reduction Act, a historic climate law President Biden signed in August, tweaked rules for an existing tax credit associated with the purchase of “clean” vehicles.

The law, which extended the tax break through 2031, changed some requirements to get the full $7,500 value of the “clean vehicle credit.”

Some tax and auto experts think the tweaks — largely intended to bring more manufacturing and supply chains within U.S. borders and those of allies — will temporarily make it more difficult to qualify for all or part of the credit.

Many households found that their financial fortunes changed during the pandemic, and these changes were often reflected in their credit scores. A recent CFPB analysis found that the distribution of credit scores shifted upward during the pandemic, suggesting that pandemic-era mortgage forbearances, the federal student loan repayment pauses, and federal cash transfers that improved some consumers’ financial wellbeing drove the overall increases in credit scores. 1 In this blog, we analyze increases in scores by looking at credit score tiers, labeling consumer credit scores as deep subprime, subprime, near-prime, prime, or superprime. These tiers are important to study because many lenders use them to make loan decisions and set the terms of credit. A higher credit score tier can allow a consumer access to more and cheaper credit, holding all else equal. We found that the deep subprime and subprime tiers experienced the biggest upward shift, though individuals in higher credit score tiers were also more likely to move up at least one tier than they were before the pandemic. Forty-three percent of consumers with subprime credit scores moved up at least one tier during the pandemic, whereas in the ten years prior to the pandemic, only 37 percent moved up at least one tier.

ATLANTA (Jan. 24, 2023) – Trust matters when it comes to car buying in both wholesale and retail. To drive confidence and transparency in the new and used electric vehicle (EV) market and help optimize EV battery first life, Cox Automotive today announced the next phase of its pioneering approach to EV Battery Health scoring and diagnostics. The company will set the foundation for the industry standard in EV battery inspection and valuation with its VIN-specific battery grading system that is unlike any other solution available today. The pilot of Cox Automotive’s EV Battery Health mobile app and Bluetooth® dongle will launch at 10 Manheim locations across the U.S. – Pennsylvania, Southern California, San Francisco, Riverside, Nevada, Dallas, Phoenix, Seattle, Nashville and Portland.

Week one of the 2023 legislative session has come to a close. In past years the legislature has moved slow and concise when it comes to many controversial issues. Last year the last day of the session ended with a lengthy discussion on trans-gender athletes in Utah schools that took over most of the last day of legislative bill processing. Many of those controversial bills are already moving quickly through the session, with some already half way through the process. This means many bills that previously were held up, should move forward easier. The first week of appropriation meetings are complete and a handful of committee meetings moved forward with many interim committee bills coming out of them.

Cox Automotive acknowledged that by nearly every measure, 2022 was a difficult year for independent dealers, who were challenged by historically low vehicle inventories, high prices and the ongoing risk of an economic recession.

With predicting the year ahead will be one of transition, as both consumers and the industry move past the remains of a global pandemic and set a new course for growth, the NextGear Capital field team compiled 10 tips to help independent dealers thrive in 2023.

ATLANTA, Jan. 18, 2023 – New research released today by Cox Automotive shows that satisfaction with the car buying process declined in 2022 for the second straight year. The 2022 Car Buyer Journey Study reveals vehicle buyers were frustrated with high prices, limited availability, and the amount of time required to complete the process. Used-vehicle buyers, who are often more price sensitive and face higher interest rates, were particularly unsatisfied with the experience in 2022, the research indicates.