Wantagh GMC Dealer Sues GM With Allegations Of Discriminatory Business Practices, Per Court Filing

WANTAGH, NY — A Wantagh GMC dealership is suing General Motors for business practices that the dealership says are unfair, discriminatory, unreasonable and inequitable, a new court filing reads.

In a June 3 filing, Wantagh-based Sun GMC claims that several of the metrics GM uses to decide where to send its cars and assess the performance of its affiliated dealerships have unfairly limited the number of cars Sun GMC gets from the manufacturer, a practice that Sun GMC says limits the amount of cars it can sell.

“GM has been wrongfully starving Sun of inventory to sell which is causing irreparable harm and damage to Sun’s business and goodwill,” the complaint reads, alleging that the “failure to provide” the dealership with enough cars will eventually force the dealership to go out of business if it continues.

According to the civil complaint, Sun GMC was expected to sell over 1,000 vehicles in 2025, but only received GM invoices for 501 vehicles. Over the last six months, the complaint reads, Sun GMC has sold less than 20 vehicles per month on average. While Sun GMC has been an affiliated dealer since 1986, the complaint reads that GM has defined the Wantagh dealership as not being “sales effective,” and that the manufacturer has identified Sun GMC as a poor performer relative to other GM dealers around it.

In light of these sales figures, the complaint says that GM has failed to provide Sun with enough vehicles to “maintain a reasonable inventory, or even enough vehicles for Sun to meet its sales obligation imposed by GM.”

“For the past year or so, Sun often has such low inventory at its dealership that it appears as if it is going out of business,” the complaint reads. “Sun’s inventory has often fallen to below 50 vehicles, and its large outside lots stand empty.”

That low inventory, the suit alleges, has caused Sun GMC to lose sales and lose competitive standing “due to customers’ preference for vehicles that are in stock that the customer can see.”

In total, the dealership seeks at least $15 million in compensatory damages and punitive damages to be determined at trial for each of eight causes of action, as well as an order from the court for GM to make enough vehicles available to Sun GMC for the dealership to meet its sales obligations. Finally, the dealership also seeks for GM to cover its attorneys’ fees. General Motors could not be reached for comment Wednesday.