MVDL Creep: What Manufacturers Can Do When Significant Changes Are Made

I.                    INTRODUCTION

A.                  The New Hampshire and North Dakota Farm Equipment Dealer Acts: Outliers, or Harbingers of Things to Come?

1.                  There is no question that the provisions of motor vehicle dealer laws (“MVDL”) have in recent years been extended to franchise and dealer relationships in other industries, raising the prospect that MVDL could provide the basis for more extensive regulation of distribution and franchising generally.

2.                  Two of the most recent examples of “MVDL creep,” in New Hampshire and North Dakota, used state motor vehicle franchise laws—in these states and elsewhere—as a template for increased regulation of relationships between equipment manufacturers and their dealers.