LANSING, MI 9WTVB) – Auto sales have ground to a halt in Michigan in the past few weeks, but that’s about to change as Governor Whitmer has declared auto dealership employees are now considered essential workers.
The new “Stay Home, Stay Safe” Executive Order issued yesterday allows for online automobile sales. Showrooms are still closed until at least the end of the month.
Michigan last week opened up a narrow window for sales, allowing dealers to perform sales for first-responders and other essential workers in emergency situations.
The new order Thursday specifically states that workers are deemed essential “at motor vehicle dealerships who are necessary to facilitate remote and electronic sales or leases, or to deliver motor vehicles to customers, provided that showrooms remain closed to in-person traffic.”
Michigan had been one of only four states, including Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky, to ban all auto sales. Washington state dropped off the list last week when it OK’d digital sales, according to J.D. Power.
Overall, 24 states (accounting for 44% of US sales in 2019) allow for dealership sales operations to remain open. Another 23 states have restricted sales to online.
In the first week of April, sales were off 59% across the country, with Michigan flat-lining at a near 100% decline.
