Sales join essential list, with push

In March, when the coronavirus began to spread across the U.S., state and local leaders ordered people to stay home to limit exposure.

States generally deemed auto repair essential, keeping service operations open. But rules for vehicle sales varied. Some states required dealerships to close showrooms and sell vehicles online. Some initially prohibited sales altogether. Still others allowed in-person sales. Dealers wanted clarity.

Before the month was up, advocacy efforts would mobilize around national guidance to replace the state patchwork. Groups including the National Automobile Dealers Association, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers, the American International Automobile Dealers Association and dealership technology company Cars.com made the case that vehicles may have to be replaced, not just serviced, to keep critical services and workers moving.

NADA and other automotive trade associations sent letters to the Trump administration asking that auto sales be allowed to operate.

"It made a huge difference," NADA CEO Peter Welch told Automotive News last week about the group's lobbying efforts. The group also advocated for federal stimulus aid.

Cars.com hired a lobbyist to connect with legislators in Washington and with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which released the federal essential workers guidance, CEO Alex Vetter said.

About 5,000 dealers signed on to a Cars.com-created online form that sent letters to federal policymakers, Vetter said.

"The real heroes here are the dealerships who continued to operate local businesses in the heat of all of this," he said.

On April 17, the federal agency added auto sales to the essential services list. Though the list was not binding for states, many drew on its framework.