(September 8, 2015) FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — AutoNation, America's largest automotive retailer, today announced a policy to not sell, lease or wholesale any new or used vehicle that has an open safety recall.  This will apply to every one of AutoNation's 293 vehicle franchises across the United States and stands as a confirmation of the company's commitment to delivering a peerless customer experience.

"There's no way to expect that customers would or should know of every safety recall on every vehicle they might purchase, so we will ensure that our vehicles have all recalls completed," said Mike Jackson, chairman, CEO and President of AutoNation. 

"We make it our responsibility as a retailer to identify those vehicles and remove them from the market until their safety issues have been addressed."

A blanket commitment not to sell vehicles subject to a safety recall is not without cost, as adequate parts are not always immediately available, and AutoNation must hold the vehicles in inventory until they are repaired. The company insists that their customers' protection is worth the investment in the process.  They believe that the decision to do so is ultimately the right one, and economic considerations must take a back seat to safety concerns.

For this reason, the program addresses AutoNation's entire inventory, going well beyond the vehicles on the sales floor.  For example, AutoNation will not wholesale any vehicle that has an open safety recall.  The company has taken an explicit position that it will not have any role whatsoever in these vehicles being on the road, and it will not use convenient methods such as wholesaling to rid itself of problematic inventory.

Even more notable from a customer's point of view is that the company accepts vehicles as trade-ins even if they have open safety recalls — and they value them according to standard guidelines, even with the understanding that there may be additional time and investment in the processing of these vehicles as part of the reconditioning process.

Under the policy, all vehicles with open safety recalls are identified, physically pulled from inventory and "Not For Sale" hang tags and key tags will be placed on them. There are defined internal procedures for the processing and disposition of these vehicles that each associate will be expected to follow.