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The former owner of the Volvo dealership that was forced to abruptly shut down its Ala Moana Boulevard location last month has filed a second lawsuit against New Jersey-based distributor Volvo Car USA.
Mike Fedotov, owner of Envy Hawaii, said in a lawsuit filed Friday in 1st Circuit Court that Volvo Car USA breached the franchise agreement without good cause and violated multiple Hawaii laws. Envy Hawaii, which did business as Volvo Cars of Honolulu, ceased operations Dec. 14 a few days after receiving a franchise termination letter from Volvo Car USA for breach of contract involving customer vehicle trade payoffs.
“Volvo Cars acted in the best interest of its customers and was well within its rights to legally terminate Envy’s franchise agreement,” Volvo Car spokesman Russell Datz said Monday in an emailed statement. “Volvo Cars looks forward to defending itself in court.”
Brothers Marc and Jarrett Cutter, who are among the largest auto dealers in the state, were awarded the state’s lone Volvo franchise after Envy Hawaii’s dealership shut down. The Cutters opened a new Volvo dealership Wednesday at an existing Cutter dealership at 94-1777 Farrington Highway in Waipahu.
Fedotov said he had been trying to sell the dealership and previously had negotiated with Cutter and Volvo Car USA in September but was unable to reach an agreement. Envy had acquired the Volvo dealership in December 2012 from Jackson Volvo.
The lawsuit was the latest salvo in a dispute that began in November 2016 and has resulted in both sides suing each other.
Envy has accused Volvo Car USA of forcing the dealership to accept inventory beyond actual sales demand in order to inflate sales figures. Volvo Car USA has accused Envy of altering the standard dealer agreement.
A trial on those two earlier lawsuits is set for November.
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