Phase 3 Reopening - Dealership Update
Governor Pritzker on Sunday announced that Illinois will move to Phase Three reopening on Friday, May 29. For franchised new car dealers, this means you can open your showrooms without the need for appointments. However, distancing and face coverings are still required for your employees and customers, and your store occupancy is limited to precautions issued by the state.
From the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity website:
"Stores must limit customers in the store at one time to 5 customers per 1,000 square feet. This excludes employees. The customer occupancy limit is calculated by taking the total square footage of the permanent structure the business occupies and divide by 1,000. If the square footage of the facility is less than 1,000, the number of people is also less than 5 based on percentage."
Please read the precautions listed at the following links and incorporate into your dealership operations where appropriate. Even as the state re-opens the economy, the goal for your dealership is to remain open for business, and that means keeping your employees and customers safe and well.
Coronavirus Resource Page
Given the constantly changing circumstances regarding COVID-19, CATA has created an information page for CATA member dealers. This resourse page provides direct access to federal government guidance and other materials to help manage new-car and -truck dealerships. We will continue to update these materials as the situation evolves.
Click Here to get the latest COVID-19 information | CATA Allied Member Dealer Support & Programs
History of the CATA
Founded in 1904, the Chicago Automobile Trade Association is on of the nation's oldest and largest metropolitan new-car dealer associations. Today, it lists 400+ new-car dealers as members.
Mission of the CATA
For more than a century, the CATA has stood for high principles of business. Its basic tenets remain as steadfast today as they were a hundred years ago: Promoting honesty and dependability in business operations; Employing truth and accuracy in dealer advertising; Standing by guarantees; Improving business methods and ethics and keeping competition fair so that dealers and the public are well-served; and Refraining from practices detrimental to the industry or contrary to the public interest. Currently, CATA dealerships employ more than 20,000 people in Chicagoland. Over the past century, these locally based small businesses have provided good paying jobs for their employees, who, in turn, contribute to their communities. The CATA’s commitment to excellence in automotive retailing remains its core value and will remain so through the next century.
Chicago Auto Show
First staged in 1901, the
Chicago Auto Show is the largest auto show in North America and has been held more times than any other auto exposition in the world. 2020 will mark the 112th edition of the show.
Since 1935, the CATA has had the honor of presenting the Chicago show. Over the years it has grown with the city moving from the Coliseum to the International Amphitheatre to the original McCormick Place and then to the current McCormick Place. Today, the show occupies two exhibition halls with more than 1 million square feet of exhibition space.
The CATA’s generosity and commitment to the community is shown not only at the Chicago Auto Show’s "First Look for Charity" where last year more than $2.6 million was raised in one night for local beneficiaries, but throughout the year in countless episodes of humanitarianism and community involvement.