Speaking to the Automotive Press Association in Detroit on Oct. 8, National Automobile Dealers Association Chairman H. Carter Myers III

said manufacturer/dealer relations have taken on a "refreshing new tone." Nevertheless, "there is still a need for the manufacturers to improve in communicating their plans to dealers much earlier and more

often," he said, according to NADA Newswire.

Myers cited Oldsmobile, Daewoo, major changes in parts policies, new franchise requirements, and cost transfers as examples of actions automakers take without consulting dealers. "It seems that when there is a decision that will be detrimental to dealers, they are sprung

on dealers," he said, which is "unfortunate" for both. Automakers often regret those decisions later and would have made better ones with more dealer input, Myers added.

"Dealers are common-sense, pragmatic business

people, and their input can only lead to better outcomes," said Myers. "Meeting only with a few dealers and sometimes requiring confidentiality

agreements do not count." Dealers, he added, make plans involving "significant financial investments, or more importantly, decisions

involving the lives of employees or prospective employees."

Tracking the feedback from NADA's biannual dealer attitude survey shows that "good

dealer communications and satisfaction will almost always correlate with positive sales results in the marketplace," Myers said.