On Thursday, December 19, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) and Illinois Attorney General
announced a massive $20 million settlement with Leader
Automotive Group, the operator of 10 dealerships in and around
Bloomington, Illinois, for alleged unfair and deceptive acts and
practices in connection with the sale of motor vehicles in
violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act and Illinois state law. The
FTC reported that the $20 million proposed monetary judgment was
the largest to date recovered by the FTC in its ongoing effort to
curb deceptive sales practices by auto dealers.
Allegations Against Dealer Group
In a
complaint filed in federal court in Illinois contemporaneously
with the settlement announcement, the FTC and Illinois Attorney
General alleged the dealer group lured customers to its 10
locations with prize mailers or "enticingly low [online]
prices." Once the customer arrived, the dealerships increased
the price by "adding hundreds to thousands of
