The Ministry of Trade is determinedly continuing its efforts to maintain a fair, competitive and stable market structure in the automotive sector. In this context, the Regulation on the Trade of Motor Land Vehicles (”Regulation”), which was prepared in order to meet public expectations and prevent victimization of those engaged in the trade of motor land vehicles and consumers, entered into force after being published in the Official Gazette dated 27 August 2024 and numbered 32645.
With the Regulation, the scope of the Regulation regulating the trade of second-hand motor vehicles has been expanded. In this context, important amendments were made regarding the second-hand motor vehicle trade, while the obligations of distributors and authorized dealers in the new vehicle trade were regulated. In addition, the principles and rules regarding vehicle auctions conducted electronically and vehicle pre-assessment have also been determined.
THE USE OF SECURE PAYMENT SYSTEM IN VEHICLE PURCHASE AND SALE HAS BEEN MADE MANDATORY
In order to eliminate the possibility of using counterfeit money, the obligation to pay in cash and the risk of non-payment of the sale price, the use of the Secure Payment System in the sale of second-hand motor vehicles has been made mandatory by everyone. The Regulation aims to prevent fraudulent activities that citizens may encounter in the purchase and sale of vehicles.
VEHICLE ORDERS FOR WHICH DOWN PAYMENTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED ARE REGULATED
In order to prevent victimization of the buyer in partial payment orders, an obligation to issue an order form has been introduced. The authorized dealer will not be able to demand any payment from the buyer without issuing this form, will deliver the vehicle to the buyer within 45 days and will not receive more than 10% of the sales price until 7 days before the delivery of the vehicle, In addition, the buyer will be able to cancel the order within 14 days from the date of the order form without any penal clause.
ZERO VEHICLE TRADE INCLUDED IN THE SCOPE OF THE REGULATION
Rules and obligations were introduced for distributors and authorized dealers in order to ensure fair competition in the motor vehicle supply chain and to prevent unfair commercial practices.
The activities of distributors that may be considered as unfair commercial practices are defined and the rules to be followed in their relations with authorized dealers are determined. In this context, distributors cannot increase the price of the vehicle after the invoice date and must deliver the vehicle to the authorized dealer within 15 days. Otherwise, the distributor will be deemed to be engaged in unfair commercial activity.
Authorized dealers, on the other hand, will not increase the price of the vehicle whose SCT and VAT have been paid by the buyer and will be obliged to deliver the vehicle to the buyer within 15 days. In addition, authorized dealers shall not engage in activities other than insurance, financing, accessories, spare parts sales, service and after-sales services.
WORKPLACE OPENING AND WORKING LICENSE IS REMOVED FROM THE CONDITIONS FOR AUTHORIZATION CERTIFICATE
In order to eliminate the problems experienced in obtaining authorization certificates for the second-hand motor land vehicle trade and to prevent businesses from operating without an authorization certificate, the condition of having a workplace opening and working license was removed from the conditions for authorization certificates. Thus, the victimization experienced by businesses that could not obtain an authorization certificate due to the license requirement despite meeting all other conditions was eliminated. However, businesses engaged in the trade of second-hand motor vehicles continue to be obliged to obtain a workplace opening and working license within the scope of the license legislation.
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION REQUIREMENT FLEXIBLE UNTIL MARCH 1, 2025
While the high school graduation requirement among the conditions for authorization certificates was preserved, a regulation was made to ensure that the high school graduation requirement is sought in the applications for authorization certificates made until 1 March 2025 for businesses with tax or professional chamber registration as of the effective date of the Regulation.
RULES HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED FOR TRANSPARENT AND SECURE VEHICLE SALES AUCTIONS
In order to ensure that auctions conducted electronically are conducted in a secure and transparent manner, obligations for auction platforms have been determined. In this context, minimum rules such as the announcement of the tender conditions and detailed information on the vehicles offered for sale on the auction platforms, determination of the hale price in accordance with fair competition rules, and the auction platform operator and the seller not participating directly or indirectly in the tender have been determined.
RULES TO BE FOLLOWED IN VEHICLE PRE-APPRAISALS CONDUCTED OVER THE INTERNET HAVE BEEN DETERMINED
In order to prevent misleading price offers by people who want to sell their vehicles and to prevent anti-competitive practices among the enterprises that conduct preliminary valuations, a regulation has been made to ensure that the difference between the first price offer submitted to the vehicle owner and the final offer in the preliminary valuations made electronically is not more than 5%, the offer given must be valid for at least 24 hours and the final offer must be made on the same day for the vehicle that has been physically inspected.
