A consumer group wants all state attorneys general to investigate fraud at auto dealerships. Public Citizen said dealers regularly bilk customers out of hundreds of dollars through price manipulation and costly financing

deals.

NADA, representing the nation's auto dealers, disputed the findings released Dec. 8 by Public Citizen.

Public Citizen based its 71-page report on the allegations of Duane Overholt, who worked as an auto salesman in Florida for 20 years before going to federal prosecutors with accusations against his former employer, Charlotte, N.C.-based Sonic Automotive Inc.

NADA said Public Citizen's report focuses on some extreme cases of fraud in an industry that employs 1.2 million people and sells 40 million new and used vehicle each year. "To suggest that this is part of some kind of national conspiracy is absurd," Chairman Alan Starling said in a statement. "To indict an entire industry is a great disservice to the overwhelming majority of auto dealers who treat each of their customers in an honest and open manner.

"The National Automobile Dealers Association condemns, in the strongest terms, any fraudulent or deceptive behavior in auto sales," Starling said. "This kind of behavior is indefensible. However, what Public Citizen has reported on

is a number of extreme cases of fraud and deception. Auto retailing is made up of 20,000 independent business men and women who employ more than 1.2 million people nationwide, handling more than 40 million new and used car transactions every year. The majority of new-car dealers are family businesses that have been an important part of their local communities for decades. Repeat business is the cornerstone

of their operation. Their business is based not only on making people happy, but getting them to tell everyone else how good they are. It's unfortunate that the bad businesses capture the

headlines, but, in the end, they will not succeed," Starling said.