Chrysler sues 4 states over dealer laws
Chrysler LLC sued the Oregon Attorney General and officials in Maine, North Carolina and Illinois, saying recent changes to those states' dealerlaws violate the bankruptcy code and the U.S. Constitution.
Chrysler says the new laws interfere with the car company's rejection of 789 dealers as part of its sale to Italy's Fiat SpA.
The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan bankruptcy court by reorganized Chrysler as well as its bankrupt estate.
It seeks a court order declaring the laws unconstitutional and in conflict with a bankruptcy judges orders.
"The laws unduly burden New Chrysler with the obligation to provide the rejected dealers with rights that this court determined that the rejected dealers do not have," lawyers for Chrysler wrote.
The four states would have power under the new laws to block new Chrysler from granting a franchise to a new dealer in that state or relocate a dealer into a rejected dealers market, lawyers for Chrysler wrote.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez approved Chrysler's plan to reject 789 dealer agreements before most of the Auburn Hills-based company's assets were sold in June to a group led by Fiat, creating the world's sixth-largest automaker.
The suit names eight defendants, including Oregon Attorney General John Kroger, the secretaries of state in Maine and Illinois, and transportation officials in all four states.
Chrysler has also faced at least four lawsuits in state courts related to the rejections, from Boucher Imports Inc. in Wisconsin, Crain CDJ in Arkansas, Spitzer Autoworld Sheffield LLC in Ohio and Sun Country Chrysler Inc. in Utah.
Source: Chrysler sues 4 states over dealer laws
Chrysler says the new laws interfere with the car company's rejection of 789 dealers as part of its sale to Italy's Fiat SpA.
The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan bankruptcy court by reorganized Chrysler as well as its bankrupt estate.
It seeks a court order declaring the laws unconstitutional and in conflict with a bankruptcy judges orders.
"The laws unduly burden New Chrysler with the obligation to provide the rejected dealers with rights that this court determined that the rejected dealers do not have," lawyers for Chrysler wrote.
The four states would have power under the new laws to block new Chrysler from granting a franchise to a new dealer in that state or relocate a dealer into a rejected dealers market, lawyers for Chrysler wrote.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez approved Chrysler's plan to reject 789 dealer agreements before most of the Auburn Hills-based company's assets were sold in June to a group led by Fiat, creating the world's sixth-largest automaker.
The suit names eight defendants, including Oregon Attorney General John Kroger, the secretaries of state in Maine and Illinois, and transportation officials in all four states.
Chrysler has also faced at least four lawsuits in state courts related to the rejections, from Boucher Imports Inc. in Wisconsin, Crain CDJ in Arkansas, Spitzer Autoworld Sheffield LLC in Ohio and Sun Country Chrysler Inc. in Utah.
Source: Chrysler sues 4 states over dealer laws
Related Stories
12/26/2009 04:54 PM: Lancia's near future to be built on Chrysler platforms by Timothy TibbettsDuring a Tuesday meeting in Rome with representatives of the government and trade unions, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne revealed the Italian group's product plan that has been revised after the alliance...
12/22/2009 05:46 PM: Chrysler will show electric Fiat 500, sources say by Timothy Tibbetts
DETROIT -- Chrysler Group will show off two vehicles at next month's Detroit auto show hinting at future collaborations under Italy's Fiat S.p.A, according to two sources familiar with the plans. A...
12/22/2009 11:09 AM: Chrysler Said to Unveil Lancia-Derived Car at Detroit Auto Show by Timothy Tibbetts
Chrysler Group LLC, the U.S. automaker run by Fiat SpA, plans a Detroit auto show debut next month for a new car derived from the Italian company’s Lancia brand, three people familiar with the situati...
12/18/2009 08:57 PM: Chrysler plans quiet auto show by Timothy Tibbetts
The company that brought a herd of frisky Longhorns, a two-story waterfall and a flying Jeep to past Detroit auto shows plans to be uncharacteristically demure next month....
12/18/2009 06:58 AM: Chrysler plans quiet auto show by Jon Maor
Chrysler Group LLC, the company that brought a herd of frisky Longhorns, a two-story waterfall and a flying Jeep to past Detroit auto shows, plans to be uncharacteristically demure next month....
