Honda’s “Advertising Police” is After its Dealers
For a number of reasons 2014 doesn’t seem the be the most favorable to franchised Honda dealers. Sales are slower compared to those of other automakers, new vehicle launches are scarce, and the brand’s pickup line is aging.
Now there’s a new issue, officially called Honda Compliance Headquarters or as Honda dealers call it – the “advertising police”. The automaker has created this extension to its marketing department to keep “a close watch on the marketing activities of dealers who participate in the brand’s dealer marketing allowance program and cracks down on any who violate strict rules on what dealers can and can’t say in their advertising, whether print, online or broadcast.”
Both the restrictions and the fines that follow their violation seem excessive to Honda’s dealers. For example, advertising a car below its invoice price can cost a dealer up to $400 per vehicle, even though selling the car below that price is actually allowed.
While most dealers agree these measures protect the brand, some are saying that it limits their ability to compete.
Read the full article in Automotive News.
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