Section 818.311 - Area of responsibility(a) General rule.--It shall be a violation of this chapter for any manufacturer or distributor, officer, agent or any representative of a manufacturer or distributor to unreasonably alter a new vehicle dealer's area of responsibility. The following shall apply: (1) Advance notice from the manufacturer of an alteration of a dealer's area of responsibility shall be given at least 60 days before the effective date of the alteration. The notice shall include an explanation of the basis for the alteration.(2) At any time before the effective date of such alteration of a dealer's area of responsibility, and after the completion of any internal appeal process pursuant to the manufacturer's or distributor's policy manual, the dealer may file a protest as provided for under section 306. In the event a protest is filed, no such alteration of a dealer's area of responsibility shall become effective until final determination by the board.(3) If a dealer protests under paragraph (2), the burden of proof shall be on the manufacturer to show that the dealer's area of responsibility is reasonable and justifiable in light of the market conditions.(4) If a new vehicle dealer's area of responsibility is altered, the manufacturer shall allow 18 months for the dealer to penetrate the market and to become sales effective prior to taking negative legal action claiming a breach or nonperformance of the dealer's sales performance responsibilities against the dealer.(b) Exception.--This section shall not apply to recreational vehicle manufacturers, distributors or dealers.Amended and Renumbered by P.L. TBD 2018 No. 134, § 13, eff. 10/24/2019.1983, Dec. 22, P.L. 306, No. 84, § 12.1, added 2011, July 7, P.L. 285, No. 65, §3, effective in 60 days [ 9/6/2011].