Dear Dealers and Sponsors,

NIADA is concerned that the New Mexico Independent Automobile Dealers Association communicates clearly that it is no longer affiliated with the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association.   This disaffiliation was done at the request of NMIADA, based on our belief that NIADA has violated the terms of our Affiliation Agreement and overcharged NMIADA while failing to share revenues with NMIADA during the 20-year term of the Agreement.  Our records indicate that NIADA owes NMIADA tens of thousands of dollars over the last two decades.   Our membership has also overwhelmingly voted during a recent survey, to end our affiliation with NIADA.  Apparently, 82% of our members did not feel that NIADA membership was worth the $5 per month charge.

A little history:  In early 2018, as NMIADA’s new Executive Director, I began to understand all of our contractual obligations and relationships.  One of the longest standing was the NIADA affiliation, and almost no one really knew what the Agreement said.  After receiving and reviewing the Affiliation Agreement, I became concerned about the issues raised above and began a series of conversations with NIADA Executive Staff which continued into 2019.  The ultimate result of those talks was that NMIADA’s interpretation was roundly rejected by the CEO and we were instructed to pay up or face being ejected from the NIADA.

After a brief COVID intermission, NMIADA’s Board of Directors reviewed the contract language and the potential amounts of money involved.  Deeply committed to their fiduciary responsibility to NMIADA members, the Board voted to disaffiliate and to pursue negotiation and arbitration (if required) to address NMIADA’s legitimate contractual disagreement.

Unfortunately, the effort to negotiate has so far come to naught.  NIADA has refused to sit down for negotiations and variously threatened to sue NMIADA for using the name we have had since 1962, to create their own organization in New Mexico to compete against us, and pretended that NMIADA did not invoke the arbitration clause in our Agreement in our very first letter to them on the subject.

So, as of today, it appears that NIADA would prefer that the contract dispute be handled in a Federal Court.  Because we are committed to full transparency, and want you to be able to draw your own conclusions, we have attached a copy of the communications between our two organizations to date.

Please reach out to Executive Director, Marc Powell with questions or concerns. Email is: marc@nmiada.com

Please click here to read communication between NMIADA and NIADA between 3/30/2021 and 5/14/2021