AutoNation has taken a stand against selling vehicles subject to open safety recalls.
The largest U.S. automotive retailer announced a policy in which none of its 293 franchised dealerships across the U.S. will sell, lease, or wholesale any new or used vehicles that have an open safety recall.
Any vehicle with an open recall will be pulled from inventory and identified with “Not for Sale” tags until defective parts are replaced.
While this policy could be costly, the company insisted economic considerations must take a back seat to safety concerns.
“There’s no way to expect that customers would or should know of every safety recall on every vehicle they might purchase, so we will ensure that our vehicles have all recalls completed,” said Mike Jackson, Chairman, CEO and President of AutoNation, in a written release.
“We make it our responsibility as a retailer to identify those vehicles and remove them from the market until their safety issues have been addressed,” he continued.
Employees will be expected to follow defined internal procedures for the processing and disposition of vehicles with open recalls, added the company.
While U.S. dealers are not legally required to fix vehicles with safety defects, there has been a big push for legislation in response to the recent surge of recalls.
