Ark. Code § 23-112-103

Current with legislation from 2024 Fiscal and Special Sessions.

Section 23-112-103 - Definitions

As used in this chapter:

(1) "Advertisement" means an oral, written, telecommunicated, graphic, pictorial, or other statement made in the course of soliciting business, including without limitation, a statement or representation made in a newspaper, magazine, internet, or other publication or contained in a notice, sign, poster, display, circular, pamphlet, letter, or flyer, or made via radio, television, or any other medium;

(2) "All-terrain vehicle" means a motor vehicle that:

(A) Is an off-highway vehicle:

(i) Fifty inches (50") or less in width, having a dry weight of nine hundred pounds (900 lbs.) or less, and traveling on three (3) or more low-pressure tires, with a seat designed to be straddled by the operator, a Class 1 all-terrain vehicle; or

(ii) With a width that exceeds forty-five inches (45") or having a dry weight that exceeds six hundred pounds (600 lbs.), traveling on four (4) or more low-profile, low-pressure tires, and having a bench seat or one (1) or more bucket seats, a Class 2 all-terrain vehicle;

(B) Has a seat for the operator and any passenger and handlebars or other steering mechanism for control; and

(C) Is used for any purpose, including, but not limited to, off-road, amphibious, or recreational travel;

(3) "Auto auction" means:

(A) Any person who operates or provides a place of business or facilities for the wholesale exchange of motor vehicles by and between duly licensed motor vehicle dealers;

(B) Any motor vehicle dealer licensed to sell used motor vehicles, selling motor vehicles using an auction format but not on consignment; and

(C) Any person who provides the facilities for or is in the business of selling motor vehicles in an auction format;

(4) "Branch location" means a secondary location:

(A) Identified in a license issued by the Arkansas Motor Vehicle Commission to a motor vehicle dealer; and

(B) Which is an established place of business other than the licensed location;

(5) "Broker" means a person who for any valuable consideration, whether received directly or indirectly, arranges or offers to arrange a transaction involving the sale, for purposes other than resale, of a new motor vehicle, and who is not:

(A) A dealer or bona fide employee of a new motor vehicle dealer when acting on behalf of a new motor vehicle dealer;

(B) A representative or bona fide employee of a manufacturer, factory branch, or factory representative when acting on behalf of a manufacturer, factory branch, or factory representative;

(C) A representative or bona fide employee of a distributor or distributor branch when acting on behalf of a distributor or distributor branch; or

(D) At any point in the transaction, the bona fide owner of the vehicle involved in the transaction;

(6)

(A) "Coerce" means compelling or attempting to compel by threatening, retaliating, using economic force, or by not performing or complying with:

(i) Any terms or provisions of the franchise or sales and service agreement;

(ii) The terms of this chapter; or

(iii) The rules promulgated by the Arkansas Motor Vehicle Commission.

(B) "Coerce" does not mean recommending, exposing, persuading, urging, or arguing;

(7) "Commission" means the Arkansas Motor Vehicle Commission created by this chapter;

(8) "Conversion" means a motor vehicle other than an exempted specialty vehicle that is substantially modified by a person, firm, or corporation other than the manufacturer or distributor of the chassis of the motor vehicle and that has not been the subject of a retail sale;

(9) "Distributor" means any person, resident or nonresident, who, in whole or in part, sells or distributes new motor vehicles to motor vehicle dealers or who maintains distributor representatives;

(10) "Distributor branch" means a branch or division office similarly maintained by a distributor for the same purposes a factory branch or division is maintained;

(11) "Distributor representative" means a representative similarly employed by a distributor or distributor branch;

(12) "Factory branch" means a branch or division office maintained by a person, firm, association, corporation, or trust who manufactures or assembles new motor vehicles for sale to distributors, to motor vehicle dealers, or for directing or supervising, in whole or in part, its representatives;

(13) "Factory representative" means a representative employed by a:

(A) Person, firm, association, corporation, or trust that manufactures or assembles new motor vehicles; or

(B) Factory branch, for the purpose of making or promoting the sale of its new motor vehicles or for supervising or contacting its dealers or prospective dealers;

(14) "Franchise" means one (1) or more contracts between a franchised dealer as franchisee and either a manufacturer or a distributor, importer, second-stage manufacturer, or converter as franchiser under which:

(A) The franchisee is granted the right to sell, service, or sell and service new motor vehicles manufactured or distributed by the franchiser;

(B) The franchisee as an independent business is a component of the franchiser's distribution system;

(C) The franchise is substantially associated with the franchiser's trademark, trade name, or commercial symbol;

(D) The franchisee's business is substantially reliant on the franchiser for a continued supply of motor vehicles, parts, or accessories for the conduct of its business; or

(E)

(i) Any right, duty, or obligation granted or imposed by this chapter is affected.

(ii) "Franchise" includes:

(a) A written communication from a franchiser to a franchisee by which a duty is imposed upon the franchisee; or

(b) Any separate written agreement between the franchisee and the franchiser that materially affects the franchise, as defined in this subdivision (14), whether entered into:

(1) Contemporaneously with the creation of the franchise; or

(2) Subsequent to the date the franchise was created;

(15) "Good faith" means the duty of each party to any franchise and all officers, employees, or agents thereof to act in a fair and equitable manner toward each other so as to guarantee the one party freedom from coercion, intimidation, or threats of coercion or intimidation from the other party;

(16) "Licensed location" means the address designated as the primary business address of the motor vehicle dealer on the application submitted for approval of licensure;

(17) "Line make of a motor vehicle" means a group or series of motor vehicles that have the same brand identification or brand name, based upon the manufacturer's trademark, trade name, or logo;

(18) "Low speed vehicle" means a motor vehicle:

(A) That is four-wheeled;

(B) That has an attainable speed in one (1) mile of more than twenty miles per hour (20 m.p.h.) but not more than twenty-five miles per hour (25 m.p.h.) on a paved level surface; and

(C) With a gross vehicle weight of less than three thousand pounds (3,000 lbs.);

(19) "Manufacturer" means any person, firm, association, corporation, or trust, resident or nonresident, that manufactures or assembles new motor vehicles;

(20) "Motor vehicle" means a self-propelled vehicle having two (2) or more wheels that has as its primary purpose the transportation of a person, including without limitation all-terrain vehicles, automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, motor-driven cycles, motor scooters, and low speed vehicles;

(21)

(A)

(i) "Motor vehicle dealer" means a person that is:

(a) Engaged in the business of selling, offering to sell, soliciting, or advertising the sale of servicing or repairing motor vehicles under a manufacturer's warranty; and

(b) Located at an established and permanent place of business under a franchise, sales and service agreement, or a bona fide contract in effect with a manufacturer or distributor.

(ii) "Motor vehicle dealer" includes any person engaged in the business of selling, offering to sell, soliciting, or advertising the sale, regardless of the medium used, of commercial buses, school buses, or other multipassenger motor vehicles, or possessing them for the purpose of resale.

(B) "Motor vehicle dealer" does not include:

(i) Receivers, trustees, administrators, executors, guardians, or other persons appointed by or acting under judgment, decree, or order of any court;

(ii) Public officers while performing their duties as officers;

(iii) Employees of persons, corporations, or associations enumerated in subdivision (21)(B)(i) of this section when engaged in the specific performance of their duties as employees;

(iv) Specialty vehicle dealers;

(v) Financial institutions engaged in the leasing of motor vehicles; or

(vi) Used motor vehicle dealers licensed by the state under § 23-112-601 et seq.;

(22) "Motor vehicle lessor" means any person not excluded by subdivision (21) of this section engaged in the motor vehicle leasing or rental business;

(23) [Repealed.]

(24) "New motor vehicle" means any motor vehicle, the legal title to which has never been transferred by a manufacturer, distributor, or franchised new motor vehicle dealer to an ultimate purchaser;

(25) "Off premises" means a location other than the address designated as the licensed location;

(26) "Person" means and includes, individually and collectively, individuals, firms, partnerships, copartnerships, associations, corporations, trusts, or any other form of business enterprise, or any legal entity;

(27)

(A) "Relevant market area" means the area within a radius surrounding an existing dealer or the area of responsibility defined in the franchise and on file in the commission office, whichever is greater.

(B)

(i) For all licensed new motor vehicle dealers, excluding motorcycles, motorized cycles, and motor-driven all-terrain vehicles, which include two-wheeled, three-wheeled, four-wheeled, six-wheeled, or eight-wheeled motorcycles, motorized cycles, and motor-driven all-terrain vehicles, the relevant market area shall be a radius of twenty (20) miles.

(ii) However, when a manufacturer is seeking to establish an additional new motor vehicle dealer, the relevant market area shall in all instances be the area within a radius of ten (10) miles around an existing dealer.

(C) For all licensed new motor vehicle dealers of motorcycles, motorized cycles, and motor-driven all-terrain vehicles, which include two-wheeled, three-wheeled, four-wheeled, six-wheeled, or eight-wheeled motorcycles, motorized cycles, and motor-driven all-terrain vehicles, the relevant market area shall in all instances be the area within a radius of thirty (30) miles around an existing dealer or the area of responsibility defined in the franchise and on file in the commission office, whichever is greater;

(28) "Retail sale" or "sale at retail" means the act or attempted act of selling, bartering, exchanging, or otherwise disposing of a new motor vehicle to an ultimate purchaser for use as a consumer;

(29) "Second-stage manufacturer" or "converter" means a person, firm, or corporation that, prior to retail sale of a motor vehicle:

(A) Assembles, installs, or affixes a body, cab, or special equipment to a chassis; or

(B) Substantially adds to, subtracts from, or modifies a previously assembled or manufactured motor vehicle;

(30)

(A) "Specialty vehicle" means a motor vehicle manufactured by a second-stage manufacturer by purchasing motor vehicle components, for example, frame and drive train, and completing the manufacture of finished motor vehicles for the purpose of resale, with the primary manufacturer warranty unimpaired, to a limited commercial market rather than the consuming public.

(B) "Specialty vehicle" includes garbage trucks, ambulances, fire trucks, limousines, hearses, and other similar limited-purpose vehicles as the commission may by rule provide;

(31) "Temporary permit" means a license issued for one (1) week or less to a motor vehicle dealer who is licensed in another state for the purpose of displaying, offering to sell, selling, and soliciting the sales of motor vehicles at the time and place designated by the commission and only at an approved motor vehicle show in this state;

(32)

(A) "Ultimate purchaser" means, with respect to any new motor vehicle, the first person, other than a motor vehicle dealer purchasing in his or her capacity as a dealer, who in good faith purchases the new motor vehicle for purposes other than resale.

(B) "Ultimate purchaser" shall not include a person who purchases a vehicle for purposes of altering or remanufacturing the motor vehicle for future resale;

(33)

(A) "Used motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle:

(i) For which title has been sold, bargained, exchanged, given away, or transferred from the person or corporation who first took ownership from the manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or agents thereof; or

(ii) So used as to have become what is commonly known as a "second hand motor vehicle" or a "previously owned motor vehicle".

(B) A new motor vehicle shall not be considered a used motor vehicle unless the motor vehicle has been:

(i) Placed in actual operation; and

(ii) Not held for resale by an owner that has:

(a) Been granted a certificate of title; and

(b) Registered the motor vehicle under the Motor Vehicle Administration, Certificate of Title, and Antitheft Act, § 27-14-101 et seq.;

(34) "Used motor vehicle dealer" means any person, wholesaler, or auto auctioneer who, for a commission or with the intent to make a profit or gain of money or other thing of value:

(A) Sells, exchanges, rents, or leases with the option to purchase or own, or attempts to negotiate a sale or exchange of an interest in any used motor vehicle; or

(B) Is wholly or in part in the business of buying, selling, trading, or exchanging used motor vehicles, whether or not the used motor vehicles are owned by the person;

(35)

(A) "Wholesaler" means any person, resident or nonresident, not excluded by subdivision (21) of this section, who, in whole or in part, sells used motor vehicles to motor vehicle dealers or purchases used vehicles for the purpose of resale.

(B) However, motor vehicle dealers who, incidental to their primary business, sell motor vehicles to other dealers are not considered wholesalers because of the incidental sales;

(36) "Stop-sale order" or "do-not-drive order" means a notification issued by a manufacturer to the manufacturer's franchised new motor vehicle dealers stating that certain used motor vehicles in inventory shall not be sold or leased, at either retail or wholesale prices, due to a:

(A) Federal safety recall for a defect or noncompliance; or

(B) Federal emissions recall; and

(37) "Digital platforms" means an online exchange of information, goods, and services between a dealer and a consumer that facilitates retail commercial interactions.

Ark. Code § 23-112-103

Amended by Act 2021, No. 1077,§ 2, eff. 7/28/2021.

Amended by Act 2021, No. 1077,§ 1, eff. 7/28/2021.

Amended by Act 2021, No. 504,§ 3, eff. 7/28/2021.

Amended by Act 2019, No. 315,§ 2825, eff. 7/24/2019.

Amended by Act 2019, No. 924,§ 1, eff. 7/24/2019.

Amended by Act 2015, No. 1164,§ 7, eff. 7/22/2015.

Amended by Act 2015, No. 1055,§ 2, eff. 7/22/2015.

Amended by Act 2015, No. 1055,§ 1, eff. 7/22/2015.

Amended by Act 2013, No. 1043,§ 2, eff. 1/1/2014.

Amended by Act 2013, No. 1043,§ 1, eff. 1/1/2014.

Amended by Act 2013, No. 561,§ 2, eff. 8/16/2013.

Amended by Act 2013, No. 561,§ 1, eff. 8/16/2013.

Acts 1975, No. 388, § 3; 1985, No. 1032, § 1; 1985, No. 1058, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 75-2303; Acts 1987, No. 620, § 1; 1987, No. 645, §§ 1, 2; 1989, No. 65, §§ 1-3; 1989, No. 509, § 1; 1991, No. 411, § 3; 1991, No. 890, §§ 1-3; 1993, No. 383, § 5; 1997, No. 1154, §§ 3-7; 1999, No. 1042, § 1; 2001, No. 1053, § 1; 2003, No. 1098, §§ 1, 2; 2009, No. 756, §§ 1-5; 2011, No. 1005, §§ 1-3.