Ford Owned Off-Road Giant, Land Rover Splashes Mud on the Wrong Guys

Ford owned Land Rover UK and Land Rover North America is attempting to crush its #1 customer for the resale of pre-owned Land Rover vehicles in North America. (Case Number 1:03-CV-4056-CC) Located in Roswell, Georgia, Bear Valley Land Rovers Vehicle Sales Inc. has earned its unique reputation as North America's most trusted source for pre-owned Land Rover vehicles.

ATLANTA, GA (PRWEB) July 26, 2004 -- In a deeply fractured lawsuit, Ford owned Land Rover UK and Land Rover North America are attempting to crush its #1 customer for the resale of pre-owned Land Rover vehicles in North America.

Located in Roswell, Georgia, Bear Valley Land Rovers Vehicle Sales Inc. has earned its unique reputation as North America's most trusted source for pre-owned Land Rover vehicles. Founded on a straightforward, honest approach to auto sales, the praise from countless customers posted on their website and numerous awards from Land Rover themselves is proof that Bear Valley has worked tirelessly to keep their customers happy and maintain a high level of quality.

Land Rover is a high-end, image-conscious business while Bear Valley has a folksy, down-home atmosphere with a half-dozen employees and a couple Labrador pups running around the dealership. Who in the world would ever confuse Bear Valley with a Franchise Land Rover Dealership? There is absolutely no effort by Bear Valley to pretend to be a Land Rover-authorized dealer.

So what would cause this off-road Goliath to strip its gears with a company once so deeply revered?

"Honestly, we have no idea," says Ken Cunningham of Bear Valley. "This came as a huge shock to us. We enjoyed Christmas dinner with Land Rover executives only days before the lawsuit arrived at our front door. They actually asked us to do with the Jaguar brand what we have done with Land Rover."

"We have purchased $30-$40 million worth of vehicles from Land Rover during the past eight years," added Bill Saks of Bear Valley. "No matter who owned Land Rover, they were always happy to have our business and actually were very proud of us."

The specific charges in the Land Rover lawsuit are that Bear Valley:         
•   Pretended to be a Franchise Land Rover dealer
•   Submitted false and fraudulent warranty claims
•   The alleged warranty fraud is a form of racketeering because they were performed with criminal intent, and
•   Bear Valley committed acts of trademark infringement, cyber squatting, and unfair competition.

There are several vehicles involved over a couple of years with Bear Valley mechanics installing some $3,000 to $4,000 worth of parts on vehicles Bear Valley personally owned. These were parts sent down by the franchise dealer, usually to help correct oversights made by their own shop. This practice is not unusual to Land Rover Dealers across the country.

Cunningham declares: "Bear Valley did nothing more than put some parts, like an ashtray or light switch, on warranty vehicles that we owned, at the franchise dealer's request. How dare they call that fraud?"

"Yet the Land Rover attorneys do want to call it fraud and to make it look even worse, they decided to add the word RICO to the lawsuit for eye candy."

"Apparently, Land Rover Chattanooga billed Land Rover NA for labor costs on work done by my mechanics," adds Saks. "But that's an issue between Land Rover NA and one of its dealers."

Land Rover did take action against its Chattanooga, Tennessee dealer but settled their warranty claim disputes. Basically, the Land Rover attorneys said the auditors couldn't make any sense out of the Chattanooga Land Rover dealer's books because they were in such bad shape. And so they settled. But then, in a shocking twist, Land Rover, having settled with its Chattanooga Land Rover dealer, whose record keeping was so bad it could not be effectively audited, turns around and awards that same dealer the Jaguar dealership in Chattanooga!

Bear Valley quickly dismisses Land Rover's charges of trademark infringement. "Since 1996 we have used the name 'Bear Valley Land Rovers' and 'Vehicle Sales, Inc.' was added when we incorporated," says Saks. "It is also used at our business location and on our website at www.BVLR.com ."

Cunningham also stressed that anyone who visited Bear Valley would never confuse them with being an authorized Land Rover dealer. "Land Rover is a high-end, image-conscious business while Bear Valley has a folksy, down-home atmosphere with a half-dozen employees and a couple Labrador pups running around the dealership. Who in the world would ever confuse Bear Valley with a Franchise Land Rover Dealership? There is absolutely no effort by Bear Valley to pretend to be a Land Rover-authorized dealer."

"No one from Land Rover North America, Land Rover United Kingdom or Ford said a single word until an attorney representing Ford Motor Company contacted us in 2001. Then, not another word from them until January 2004, when the lawsuit arrived. We certainly weren't doing it behind their backs. They knew all along. The hundreds and hundreds of vehicles they sold us will attest to that," adds Cunningham. "We have established a legal right to the company name we use." Saks and Cunningham can only speculate that Land Rover UK, Land Rover NA and Ford are upset, because, by its own neglect, Bear Valley has established a legal right to its own uniquely styled service mark.

Bear Valley and Land Rover NA have a close relationship. So close in fact, Bear Valley has been a guest at private BBQs, luncheons, baseball games, fishing trips, holiday dinners and backyard Lobster boils. Bear Valley has transported Land Rover Executives' vehicles across the country as personal favors. Hanging on the walls of their office are awards proclaiming them as 2001, 2002-largest buyer in the USA.

Bear Valley was Land Rover's #1 customer for several years. In the past month, Bear Valley was once again awarded a $2000 travel certificate for being the #1 Land Rover buyer for the 1st Quarter 2004. It's as if the right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing.

"I would love to sit down with Bill Ford or Mark Fields, president of Premier Automotive Group, and talk about these issues," stresses Cunningham. "Bill Ford would have a much better understanding of what has and is going on here and we could resolve all of this." Henry Ford once said "A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business."

Saks adds, "Before the suit we hoped that one day a Ford/Land Rover attorney would come walking through the door so we could sit down to some constructive conversation. But it never happened. Instead, they show up unannounced at our dealership, in a white mid-size rental car circling our parking lot, snapping pictures! Ten feet from our front door, but not interested enough in a resolution to set foot inside! Instead, these law firms would rather spend their stockholders' money on a frivolous lawsuit. We are sure, some of those stockholders will now take a vested interest in this case."

"Obviously, we do not have the money that Ford/Land Rover has, so we are asking for help from the public," says Cunningham. Saks adds, "We know that if we post the entire lawsuit on our website at www.BVLR.com or a posted link people can follow to the District Court website at http://pacer.gand.uscourts.gov then if the public really reads it, they will see what everyone else has seen - 'ridiculous.' We want the people to read every page. We are not ashamed and have absolutely nothing to hide."

"People will quickly see it's a smear-suit, not a lawsuit," says Saks. "The public can check in every day on our website for new updates with the case. We will have a new section on our web site where people can post comments, share their own experiences with their local Land Rover dealer - anything they want to talk about that has to do with this case or Land Rovers. They can feel free to email us at bill@bvlr.com, write to us, fax us or call toll free.

We will see what the great-grandson of Henry Ford decides to do. It certainly seems that this time - Ford does not have "a better idea."

Bear Valley Land Rovers Vehicle Sales, Inc
10390 Alpharetta Street - Suite 510
Roswell, Georgia 30075
Ph. 770.645.8886
Fax 770-645-8221
T.F. 866.840.9500
www.BVLR.com

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