ALEXANDRIA, Va. -

Automotive retail is a competitive business. Competition thrives between dealers, brands, suppliers, and manufacturers — driving us all to do better. As any dealer will tell you, to succeed in this industry you must have a competitive edge — and enjoy going head to head with your rivals.

Competition undoubtedly makes us a healthier, sharper industry. But there are also times when we must stand together in order to defend and grow our businesses. Recently, I was lucky enough to take part in one of those moments.

The National Automobile Dealers Association and the American Financial Services Association held their third annual event in Washington, D.C., last month, and I was in attendance. AFSA works to support and maintain ethical business practices and financial education for consumers. AFSA’s mission is to promote responsible lending to informed borrowers and to improve and protect consumers’ access to credit.

As dealers know, this is important work.

If our financing practices are anything less than 100 percent ethical and fair, we are doing a disservice to our customers, employees and brands. We must go above and beyond in educating our staff and buyers in order to maintain our businesses and fend off further interference from the federal government.

Since the recession began, the government has been looking for financial problems to fix, sometimes where no problems exist at all. For example, last May the Federal Trade Commission conducted spot checks of 50 dealerships around the country. They were looking for any non-compliance with the “Holder in Due Course” rule. They found nothing — undoubtedly disappointing those bureaucrats who would like to exert further regulations upon our small business.

But just because they haven’t found anything, doesn’t mean the government will stop looking. If the FTC can’t uncover fault in dealer financing, they will change their focus to manufacturer finance operations. Already, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is demanding document inspection from those operations that is so detailed and excessive that vital resources are being taken away from customer service to focus on government paper work. Regulatory mandates are also chewing up valuable time and resources, preventing finance arms from spurring economic growth.

That is why it was so important that NADA, AIADA, NAMAD, and AFSA were all in attendance at last week’s event. Along with our manufacturers’ finance arms, we are working together to protect the integrity of automotive financing.

Competition hasn’t slowed down, but when it comes to increased financial regulation, we are communicating openly with one another, sharing information, and presenting a solid, united front to the federal government. AIADA will continue to keep its members informed as this issue develops.

Ray Mungenast is chairman of the American International Automobile Dealers Association.