On the Dash:
- S&P Global Mobility is opening FeeSync to the entire auto industry at no cost.
- FeeSync gives dealers one centralized platform to manage and syndicate fee data across vendors.
- The FTC sent pricing transparency warning letters to 97 dealer groups nationwide in March.
As FTC pressure on pricing transparency mounts, one of the industry’s most persistent operational problems is getting harder to ignore. Dealers managing fee data across dozens of vendor platforms have long struggled to keep it consistent and up to date across all advertising channels, raising concerns about accuracy, operational efficiency, and compliance exposure.Â
To help address that issue, S&P Global Mobility and automotiveMastermind are rolling out FeeSync, a centralized platform designed to help dealers manage fee structures in a single system and distribute updates to participating vendors via API connections at no cost. Separately, in an interview with CBT News, Aaron Baldwin, CEO of automotiveMastermind, said the issue has long been rooted in the lack of a unified system for managing dealerships’ fee data across vendors.Â
“Historically, dealers have not had a central place to manage their fee structures,” Baldwin confirms.
S&P Global Mobility describes FeeSync as an operational tool, and NOT a compliance product. Dealers retain responsibility for ensuring their advertising practices meet applicable legal standards.Â
The need for fee transparency
In March, the FTC sent warning letters to 97 dealer groups nationwide, requiring that advertised prices reflect the full, all-in cost to the consumer. Dealers have historically relied on multiple vendors, each maintaining its own version of fee data on different update schedules, without a shared source of truth. The result has been pricing inconsistencies across channels, exactly the kind of exposure the FTC has been flagging.
“Dealers shouldn’t have to chase updates across a dozen vendors every time their fee structure changes, and consumers shouldn’t encounter different numbers depending on where they shop,” said Baldwin, who is also President, Sales Solutions at S&P Global Mobility.
Baldwin to speak at CBT News Auto Leadership Summit
Baldwin is among the confirmed panelists at the CBT News Auto Leadership Summit: Fair Pricing and Compliance, set for June 16 at the Salamander Hotel in Washington, D.C. He will appear on the panel “Advertising in the Crosshairs: Online Pricing, Third-Party Listings & What the FTC is Watching.”
The summit brings together dealers, legal and compliance experts, franchise association representatives, and elected officials, including Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno. More than 200 rooftops are already registered. Seating is limited, and registration ends soon. Dealers and interested attendees can still register at cbtnews.com/auto-leadership-summit.
