Introduction
With the significant expansion in the entry of new companies and brands into the car market in Jordan, we now face new challenges and risks inherent in the continuity of the factory in manufacturing, ensuring the availability of spare parts, and after-sales services in terms of the availability of maintenance centers for these vehicles and the availability of parts for sold cars.
The importance of this article lies in:
What happens if the car factory stops production? Or withdraws completely from the global market?
And do consumer rights remain intact in guaranteeing after-sales services when the factory closes?
We will divide the article into four main axes:
First: The nature of vehicle sales contracts in Jordan.
Second: The responsibility of the dealer after the factory stops manufacturing.
Third: After-sales services from the availability of spare parts and maintenance centers
Fourth: Consumer rights when spare parts and repair centers are unavailable
First: The nature of the seller’s obligations when selling a vehicle in Jordan:
The vehicle sales contract is one of the fundamental contracts in commercial transactions. It creates obligations for both the seller and the buyer, as the Jordanian Civil Law governs the elements of the sales contract.
According to the provisions of the Jordanian Civil Law, the legislator has organized the basic obligations on the seller, the most important of which are:
1. The seller’s obligation to transfer ownership
The seller is obliged to transfer ownership of the sold item to the buyer upon the conclusion of the sale, as per Article (485/1) of the Jordanian Civil Law.
2. The seller's obligation to deliver the sold item
The seller must deliver the sold item to the buyer at the time the contract is concluded, which is one of the most important obligations of the seller, in that the buyer receives the sold item and benefits from it in all possible ways.
3. The seller's obligation in warranty
The seller's obligation in warranty is one of the fundamental substantive obligations imposed by a sales contract as intended by the Jordanian legislator to protect the buyer and ensure that the sold item is delivered as agreed upon at the time of delivery. This warranty includes two parts:
A. Warranty against eviction and entitlement
B. Warranty for latent defects in the sold item
Second: The responsibility of the dealer after the factory stops manufacturing
This issue is one of the most important matters related to disputes that occur when the factory stops production and manufacturing.
The responsibility of the dealer towards the buyer when selling a vehicle within the Jordanian market, means that the dealer remains legally obliged towards the buyer in providing the necessary supply and maintenance and the availability of spare parts from abroad.
Third: After-sales services from the availability of spare parts and maintenance centers:
The Jordanian legislator organized the Commercial Agents and Brokers Law No. 28 of 2001 and its amendments regulating the commercial agency profession, which has its principal's business center outside the Kingdom, and has a commercial agent for it therein.
And as mentioned in Article 11 of the same law: The dealer is obliged to provide sufficient spare parts and necessary maintenance centers for the products, goods, or services covered by its commercial agency.
This means that the seller ( dealer ) is obliged to provide spare parts and necessary maintenance centers and services covered by its commercial agency, otherwise, they will be liable for compensation according to the law.
Fourth: Consumer rights when spare parts and repair centers are unavailable:
The Jordanian legislator defined the relationship of the dealer with third parties in the first paragraph of Article 88 of the Commercial Law which states:
1. "<The commissioned dealer who contracts in their own name and acquires the rights resulting from the contract is directly obliged towards the persons they contracted with as if the act concerns them personally, and these persons have the right to contest with them all grounds for defense arising from their personal relationship with them and they are not entitled to sue the principal directly ".
It is clear from this that the dealer who contracted with third parties in their name, has become them and the third parties they contracted with are the parties to the contract, and the rights and obligations of the contract extend to them.
Regulatory authorities recommend
1. Requirement of an operational record for the factory for a certain number of years before granting an official agency for it in Jordan.
2. Enhancing periodic supervision over dealers' compliance with providing necessary spare parts and after-sales services.
3. Requirement of financial insurance to protect consumer rights when the factory stops manufacturing or the agency is terminated.
4. Studying amendments to current legislation to achieve a balance between consumer protection and the dealer
