5D08-2303 Winter Park Imp v. J.M. Fam

State: Florida

Court: Florida Fifth District Court

Docket No: 5D08-2303

Case Date: 11/30/2009

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT JULY TERM 2009

WINTER PARK IMPORTS, INC. etc., et al., Appellants, v. JM FAMILY ENTERPRISES, et al., Appellees. ________________________________/ Opinion filed December 4, 2009 Appeal from the Circuit Court for Orange County, Renee A. Roche, Judge. Ladd H. Fassett and Phil A. D'Aniello, Anthony & Taylor, P.A., Orlando, and John W. Forehand, of Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A., Tallahassee, for Appellant. Daniel F. Katz, John E. Joiner and Juli Ann Lund, Williams & Connolly, LLP, Washington, DC, and Dean Bunch and C. Everett Boyd, Jr., of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, LLP, Tallahassee, for Appellee. EVANDER, J. Winter Park Imports, Inc., d/b/a Lexus of Orlando ("Lexus of Orlando") filed a third amended complaint against Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC., JM Family Enterprises, Inc., JM Auto, Inc., and JM Auto II, Inc., seeking actual and treble damages, injunctive relief, and attorney's fees based on alleged violations of the Florida Case No. 5D08-2303

Dealer Act, sections 320.60-.70, Florida Statutes (2005).

In a thorough and well-

reasoned order, the trial court granted summary final judgment in favor of the defendants. We affirm. Since 1989, Lexus of Orlando has operated a dealership in Orlando pursuant to franchise dealership agreements with Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. ("TMS"). These agreements recognized TMS as the exclusive distributor in the continental United States for Lexus products manufactured by Toyota Motor Corp ("TMC"). Significantly, these agreements did not award Lexus of Orlando an exclusive dealership in the Orlando area. Section 320.645 of the Dealer Act prohibits a motor vehicle manufacturer or distributor (or parent, subsidiary, or affiliated company of a manufacturer or distributor) from owning or operating a motor vehicle dealership in this state. Section 320.645(4) contains a specific exception to this prohibition that expressly permits distributors to own dealerships that do not sell the same line-make of the vehicle that the distributor distributes. The line-make of a vehicle is its brand or trade name. See

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