WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump

said on Thursday he met with senior leaders in the auto industry

to discuss the ongoing debate over "right-to-repair"

legislation.

Trump met with GM CEO Mary Barra, Ford Motor ( F )

senior executive Andrew Frick and top officials with the

National Automobile Dealers Association and the Alliance for

Automotive Innovation along with Republican Senator Bernie

Moreno, a former auto dealer.

Ford confirmed it took part in the meeting, while the auto

groups declined to comment. GM did not respond to a request for

comment.

"We had the auto industry in yesterday. They don't want

people to fix their car. I said 'That's strange!'" Trump said.

"They have a thing; nobody's allowed to fix their car."

The auto industry has sparred with independent repair shops

and other groups for years over the ability to repair new

vehicles. The U.S. auto service market is worth about $200

billion annually.

Legislation passed by a U.S. House of Representatives

committee last week would write into law existing industry

memorandums of understanding and would give the Federal Trade

Commission authority to enforce the agreements.

The auto alliance, which represents nearly all major

automakers, said it supported the proposal and noted 75% of

post-warranty vehicle repair work happens at independent shops.

The group said in 2014 automakers committed to making all repair

instructions, tools and diagnostic codes readily available to

dealers and independent repairers.

Many lawmakers and independent repair shops say more is

needed and want Congress to pass separate legislation to ensure

vehicle owners have access and can share information necessary

for repairs including diagnostic data.

Proposed legislation would require vehicle manufacturers to

give owners and independent repair shops access to vehicle data

related to diagnostics, repair, calibration, and recalibration.

A number of lawmakers argue that by restricting access to

data, automakers can raise prices and independent repair shops

must spend hefty sums to get access to repair software.

The auto dealers group opposes the legislation, saying it

would enable aftermarket parts manufacturers to reverse engineer

auto parts and produce "knockoffs," and argues it gives

insurance companies more power to influence repair decisions.