Duarte & Witting, Inc. v. New Motor Vehicle Board

Duarte & Witting, Inc., doing business as Nader Chrysler-Plymouth (Nader), appeals from the trial court’s denial of its petition for a writ of administrative mandamus seeking to compel New Motor Vehicle Board (the Board) to hold an evidentiary hearing on the merits of a termination of Nader’s Plymouth franchise by real party in interest DaimlerChrysler Motors Corporation (DaimlerChrysler), pursuant to Vehicle Code section 3050 et seq. (Undesignated statutory references are to the Vehicle Code.) The reason for the termination of the Plymouth franchise was DaimlerChrysler’s discontinuation of the Plymouth line. The Board granted DaimlerChrysler’s motion to dismiss Nader’s protest to the termination, on the ground that the Board could not require DaimlerChrysler to continue producing Plymouths and lacked authority to grant any remedy where termination was due to discontinuation of the product rather than dissatisfaction with the dealer’s performance. Nader contends the Board does not have statutory authority to grant a dismissal motion and must conduct an evidentiary hearing on statutorily enumerated “good cause” factors for termination, e.g., whether Nader performed its…