81 FR 5752 - General Motors, LLC; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 22 (February 3, 2016)

Page Range		5752-5754
FR Document		2016-01946

The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent agreement--that would settle these allegations.

Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 22 (Wednesday, February 3, 2016)

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 3, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5752-5754]
From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-01946]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 152 3101]

General Motors, LLC; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid
Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged
violations of

[[Page 5753]]

federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices. The
attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations
in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent order--embodied in
the consent agreement--that would settle these allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 29, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/generalmotorsconsent online or on paper,
by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``General Motors LLC--
Consent Agreement; File No. 152-3101'' on your comment and file your
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/generalmotorsconsent by following the instructions on the web-based
form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``General
Motors LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 152-3101'' on your comment and
on the envelope, and mail your comment to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania
Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver
your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office
of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor,
Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Evan Zullow (202) 326-2914 or Courtney
Estep (202) 326-2788, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 600 Pennsylvania
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34,
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The
following Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained
from the FTC Home Page (for January 28, 2016), on the World Wide Web
at: http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before February 29,
2016. Write ``General Motors LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 152-
3101'' on your comment. Your comment--including your name and your
state--will be placed on the public record of this proceeding,
including, to the extent practicable, on the public Commission Web
site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of
discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact
information from comments before placing them on the Commission Web
site.
Because your comment will be made public, you are solely
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number,
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification
number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial
account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any
sensitive health information, like medical records or other
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information
which . . . is privileged or confidential,'' as discussed in Section
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16
CFR 4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas,
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ Your comment will be kept
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the
public interest.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\ In particular, the written request for confidential
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule
4.9(c), 16 CFR Sec. 4.9(c).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/generalmotorsconsent by following the instructions on the Web-based
form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you
also may file a comment through that Web site.
If you file your comment on paper, write ``General Motors LLC--
Consent Agreement; File No. 152-3101'' on your comment and on the
envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade
Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite
CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary,
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex
D), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the
Commission by courier or overnight service.
Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that
it receives on or before February 29, 2016. You can find more
information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in
the Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has
accepted, subject to final approval, an agreement containing a consent
order from General Motors, LLC. The proposed consent order has been
placed on the public record for thirty (30) days for receipt of
comments by interested persons. Comments received during this period
will become part of the public record. After thirty (30) days, the FTC
will again review the agreement and the comments received, and will
decide whether it should withdraw from the agreement and take
appropriate action or make final the agreement's proposed order.
The respondent is an automobile manufacturer that sells the cars it
manufactures through local franchise dealerships. According to the FTC
complaint, the respondent has represented that the used motor vehicles
it markets and advertises have been subject to rigorous inspection,
including for safety issues, but has failed to disclose that these used
motor vehicles are subject to open recalls for safety issues.
For instance, the respondent has posted advertisements on its Web
site

[[Page 5754]]

that make the following representations about vehicles that purportedly
undergo a rigorous 172-point inspection:

We Check It, So You Don't Have to

172-Point Inspection and Reconditioning

* * * * *
Our 172-Point Vehicle Inspection and Reconditioning Process is
conducted only by highly trained technicians and adheres to strict,
factory-set standards to ensure that every vehicle's engine, chassis,
and body are in excellent condition. The technicians ensure that
everything from the drivetrain to the windshield wipers is in good
working order, or they recondition it to our exacting standards. The
vehicles are road-tested, put up on a lift for a complete underbody and
frame inspection, and then completely checked for any cosmetic flaws.
And we do check it all. From the engine block to the shocks, right
down to the floor mats, no major system is overlooked. If it fails a
single point, we completely recondition it--or it won't be Certified.
Even though it makes such claims, the respondent has allegedly
advertised on its Web site numerous Certified Pre Owned (``CPO'')
vehicles that were subject to open recalls for safety issues. In
numerous instances, when the respondent allegedly advertised CPO
vehicles that are subject to open recalls for safety issues, it
provided no accompanying clear and conspicuous disclosure of this fact.
The proposed complaint alleges that this failure to disclose
constitutes a deceptive act or practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act.
The proposed order is designed to prevent the respondent from
engaging in similar deceptive practices in the future. Part I prohibits
the respondent from representing that used motor vehicles it markets or
advertises are safe, have been repaired for safety issues, or have been
subject to a rigorous inspection unless the used motor vehicles are not
subject to any open recalls for safety issues or the respondent
discloses, clearly and conspicuously, in close proximity to such
representation, any material qualifying information related to open
recalls for safety issues. Part II is a provision that orders the
respondent to notify every consumer who purchased a CPO used motor
vehicle from a GM dealership between July 1, 2013 and the date of entry
of the Order, and whose vehicle has not had the open recall repaired,
that (1) the consumer's vehicle has been recalled for safety issues
that have not been repaired, and (2) how to get the vehicle repaired.
Parts III through VII of the proposed order are reporting and
compliance provisions. Part III requires the respondent to maintain for
five years, and produce to the Commission upon demand, any relevant ads
and associated documentary material. Part IV is an order distribution
provision that requires the respondent to provide the Order to certain
current and future principals, officers, and directors, and to all
current employees, agents, and representatives having responsibilities
with respect to the subject matter of the Order. Part V requires the
respondent to notify the Commission of corporate changes that may
affect compliance obligations. Part VI requires the respondent to
submit a compliance report to the Commission 60 days after entry of the
order, and also additional compliance reports within 10 business days
of a written request by the Commission. Part VII ``sunsets'' the order
after twenty years, with certain exceptions.
The purpose of this analysis is to aid public comment on the
proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official
interpretation of the complaint or proposed order, or to modify in any
way the proposed order's terms.

By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-01946 Filed 2-2-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P

Document Created: 2016-02-03 00:40:07
Document Modified: 2016-02-03 00:40:07

Category		Regulatory Information
Collection		Federal Register
sudoc Class		AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106:
Publisher		Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
Section		Notices
Action		Proposed consent agreement.
Dates		Comments must be received on or before February 29, 2016.
Contact		Evan Zullow (202) 326-2914 or Courtney Estep (202) 326-2788, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580.
FR Citation		81 FR 5752