Ohio car dealers clash over use of the term 'Automile'

BEDFORD, Ohio (AP) — Two groups of car dealers in the Cleveland suburbs are a mile apart in a marketing dispute that may have to be resolved in court.

Dealerships clustered in Bedford that have called their location the “Automile” for about 50 years are suing car sellers in North Olmsted who recently began using the same term.

The Bedford Automobile Dealers Association says the North Olmsted Auto Collection is causing confusion and needs to stop saying Automile.

North Olmsted dealer Bernie Moreno says his group would rather spend money on advertising than attorney fees. He says they offered to use “Motor Mile” instead but the two sides couldn’t come to terms on that.