General Motors headquarters. Photo: iStockphoto

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has signed on to consider not one but two issues of first impression involving the power balance in the contractual relationship between car dealerships and auto manufacturers.

In a dispute between General Motors and several local dealerships over reimbursements for warranty repairs, a three-judge panel of the Commonwealth Court ruled 2-1 last August that GM was within its rights to enforce contractual terms that are not specifically authorized by Pennsylvania's Board of Vehicles Act.

The Supreme Court granted allocatur May 14 in General Motors v. Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs.