How to Equip Your Car Dealership to Maintain Compliance

A key part of running a successful car dealership is maintaining compliance. The automotive industry has numerous regulations that may seem overwhelming for your dealership to keep up with. However, setting up and maintaining a strong compliance program in your car dealership is necessary to keep it up and running.

Here are five ways to maintain compliance in your car dealership:

1. Commit to being compliant.
   Ignoring compliance won’t make it go away – it’ll only make running your car dealership more difficult, as you can incur thousands of dollars in fines and in some cases, jail time. With the auto industry undergoing constant regulatory changes, making a commitment to establish a culture of compliance and ethics in your car dealership is important.


2. Designate a compliance officer or committee.
   Appointing an in-house compliance officer or committee can be an effective way to stay on top of your dealership’s compliance efforts. This person or group can work with your attorney and learn state and federal regulations to ensure your dealership is meeting requirements.


3. Assess your compliance level.
   Since auto industry regulations are often changing, it can be beneficial to designate a compliance officer who can conduct risk assessments and review dealership business practices and procedures to identify areas of opportunity.


4. Educate your staff.
   While management may have some knowledge of proper legal compliance and ethics, it’s important to ensure your sales team is educated on industry laws and regulations. Dedicating time to training your sales team, whether in-house or through a third-party training program, can help your staff get on the same page.


5. Monitor your progress.
   Once your compliance program is in place and the staff is trained, documenting a code of ethics can help your team consistently follow processes.

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