FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                              Contact:  Jennifer Zins, CAWA Director of Government Affairs
                                                                                                    916-781-3903/Office    916-871-0603/Mobile

"CAWA Meets with State Regulators
to Ensure No Super Warranty is Adopted in Arizona"

PHOENIX, February 11, 2008 - The California/Nevada/Arizona Automotive Wholesalers' Association (CAWA) met with members of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) in an effort to ensure that no super warranty regulations are adopted in that state.  In addition, CAWA told the story of the extreme negative economic impact extended warranties have on the aftermarket industry with no documented evidence of any consumer benefit and furthermore no proof that extended warranties actually provide incentives for car companies to build more durable emissions systems.      

 

The ADEQ is currently developing regulations that will significantly increase vehicle emissions standards in Arizona .  The proposed regulations will likely contain similar provisions already adopted by California and several other states.   

 

Held at the ADEQ offices in Phoenix on February 5^th, CAWA members and representatives including President and CEO Rodney Pierini; Legislative Advocate Stuart Goodman ; Director of Government Affairs Jennifer Zins ; David Nunez, APW International; Terry Porco with the Napa Distribution Center in Phoenix and Traci Quick of Star Distributing, made a strong and convincing case that extended warranties would cause debilitating revenue declines for the independent aftermarket on primary repair and maintenance work with significant shifts in revenue from the independent aftermarket to vehicle dealers. 

 

"With Arizona' s interest in mirroring California' s approach to emissions, we felt it was necessary to get the aftermarket's voice to the table with regulators who will be developing policies in 2008," stated Rodney Pierini, CAWA President & CEO.  "We assembled a team of members and staff to communicate our concerns over the adoption of extended warranties and we think we were successful in halting any language that would extend warranties beyond the federal standard in Arizona ."

 

At the conclusion of the meeting, ADEQ staff confirmed it was not their intention to adopt any language that would extend warranties beyond the federal 8 year, 80,000 mile warranty.  It was further stated by ADEQ that they plan to consider regulations similar to those adopted by Oregon and Washington which have adopted the stricter California vehicle emissions standards but because of strong pressure from the automotive aftermarket industry opted not to include any super or extended warranty requirements.

 

"This is certainly a victory for the aftermarket parts and repair industries in Arizona , Washington and Oregon ," continued Pierini.  "We hope other states will follow Arizona and not include any super warranty requirements as they consider adopting California' s emissions standards."

 

CAWA and a coalition of eight state and national aftermarket trade associations have filed legal action against the California Air Resources Board (CARB) challenging anti-competitive regulations promulgated by the (CARB) that would require car companies to extend emissions warranties to 10 years, 120,000 miles for parts found defective by emissions warranty information reporting requirements.   The lawsuit charges that CARB has produced no proof that the extended emissions warranties are actually effective in providing incentives to the car companies to build more durable emissions systems.  Further, CARB has no data that indicates whether warranties are as effective in moving the motorist to obtain needed emissions related repairs, according to the coalition.

 

CAWA will now work with ADEQ to provide written comments and testify at an upcoming March 3rd hearing in Phoenix where regulators will decide on the proposed regulations. 

Founded in 1955, CAWA is a nonprofit trade organization representing automotive jobbers, warehouse distributors, retailers, manufacturers, and manufacturer representatives in the three states it serves.  CAWA's mission is to provide communications, education, legislative and regulatory advocacy and group purchasing of services for its members while promoting the automotive aftermarket industry.

For more information about CAWA visit www.cawa.org.

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