NY dealer sues General Motors over vehicle allocation practices

General Motors has been sued by New York dealership Sun GMC over claims that the automaker's vehicle allocation practices unfairly restricted inventory, reduced sales and profitability and violated state and federal dealer franchise laws. Sun GMC, formerly known as Sun Buick GMC, filed the lawsuit June 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The dealership’s suit says General Motors systematically under-allocated vehicles to the dealership while favoring competing retailers. Sun GMC’s suit also claims the allocation practices affected the dealership's sales performance, revenue generation and inventory financing activities. Reduced vehicle allocations limited sales opportunities and contributed to lower performance scores under GM's Retail Sales Index metric, which the dealer claims affected future vehicle allocations. The complaint seeks compensatory damages of no less than $15 million, punitive damages, attorney fees and a court order requiring GM to provide sufficient quantities and model mixes of vehicles, according to the filing. GM is contractually obligated under its dealer sales and service agreement to distribute vehicles among dealers in a fair and equitable manner and provide a reasonable quantity and variety of vehicles, according to the filing. The lawsuit says the dealership received fewer than 20 vehicles per month during the past six months despite selling nearly every vehicle it had received. The dealership said at times, inventory fell below 50 vehicles, limiting its ability to compete with nearby dealers and retain customers. Retail Sales Index challenge revives prior legal dispute The lawsuit also challenges GM's Retail Sales Index, or RSI, a performance metric used to evaluate dealers based on sales relative to expected market performance. Sun GMC argues the metric fails to account for local market conditions and creates a negative cycle. The allegations echo a prior New York dealer dispute involving GM and Beck Chevrolet Co. The New York Court of Appeals held in 2016 that GM's use of a statewide sales-performance standard was unlawful under the state’s dealer law because it failed to account for local brand popularity. In its suit, Sun GMC said it received warning letters tied to RSI performance despite lacking sufficient inventory to meet GM's sales expectations. Sierra, Yukon models at the center of dispute On the inventory front, GMC sold 356,218 Sierra pickups in 2025, up 9.7% year over year, and 93,036 Yukon SUVs, up 6.6% YoY, while GMC's total U.S. deliveries rose 6.2% YoY to 652,394 vehicles, according to GM's 2025 U.S. deliveries report. Sun GMC said in its suit that those high-volume nameplates were among the vehicles it struggled to obtain. The dealership said it received little or no allocation of some Sierra and Yukon models while competing dealers had greater access. GM allocated approximately 1,200 vehicles to Sun GMC in 2017, according to the filing. That figure declined to 380 GMC vehicles in 2023, 426 in 2024 and 501 in 2025, despite GM’s total deliveries in 2025 increasing 5.5% YoY to 2.9 million units . The lawsuit asserts violations of the federal Automobile Dealers’ Day in Court Act and several provisions of New York’s Franchised Motor Vehicle Dealer Act, according to the filing. Sun GMC’s claims include: Unfair allocation practices; Failure to disclose allocation methodologies; Improper performance standards; Refusal to provide vehicles in reasonable quantities; and Constructive termination of the franchise. General Motors and Sun GMC’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment ahead of publication. AFS footer: Auto Finance Summit, the premier industry event for auto lending and leasing, returns October 5-7 at Caesars Las Vegas. To learn more about the 2026 event and register for early-bird pricing through Aug. 21, visit <a id="menurasq" class="fui-Link ___1q1shib f2hkw1w f3rmtva f1ewtqcl fyind8e f1k6fduh f1w7gpdv fk6fouc fjoy568 figsok6 f1s184ao f1mk8lai fnbmjn9 f1o700av f13mvf36 f1cmlufx f9n3di6 f1ids18y f1tx3yz7 f1deo86v f1eh06m1 f1iescvh fhgqx19 f1olyrje f1p93eir f1nev41a f1h8hb77 f1lqvz6u f10aw75t fsle3fq f17ae5zn" title="https://hubs.la/q03tvdb00" href="https://hubs.la/Q03tVDB00" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Link www.AutoFinance.live/AFS"> www.AutoFinance.live/AFS .

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NY dealer sues General Motors over vehicle allocation practices

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