7 Candidates on Ballot for 6 CATA Board Seats Time Magazine Seven Candidates, Includ- Will Tally the Submissions

Volume 105, No. 10 June 2, 2008 Votes due June 5 Nominations for 7 candidates on ballot for 6 CATA board seats Time magazine Seven candidates, includ- will tally the submissions. Re- Tom Gollinger (Woodfield award due July 7 ing one incumbent, have sults will be announced at the Chevrolet-Hummer), Dan Nominations for the an- been nominated to fill six CATA’s June 9 golf outing at Marks (Libertyville Lincoln- nual Time Magazine Quality openings on the board of Cog Hill Golf & Country Mercury), Mike McGrath Dealer Award, which honors directors of the Chicago Au- Club in Lemont. Jr. (McGrath Acura, Hon- new-car dealers for their busi- tomobile Trade Association. One incumbent is seeking da, Hyundai, Lexus), Fred ness acumen and community Each term lasts three years re-election, this to his final Vargason (Nissan of St. service, must be received by beginning this month. three-year term. Steve Fol- Charles), and Colin Wick- the CATA by July 7. Election ballots were sent ey Jr., (Steve Foley Cadillac strom (Wickstrom Ford- All nominations should May 22 to all CATA dealer and Rolls-Royce, and Bent- Lincoln-Mercury). be submitted using the nom- members whose association ley Northbrook) currently is A director can serve a inating ballot included with dues are up-to-date. Com- CATA secretary, one of the maximum of three terms. A this newsletter. Criteria for pleted ballots must be re- four board officers. committee comprised of for- eligible nominees appear on ceived by 12 p.m. June 5 by Newcomers on the ballot mer CATA board chairmen the ballot. the CATA’s auditing firm, include Ed Burke (Naper- met last month to identify The Civic and Dealer Re- Crowe Chizek & Co., which ville Jeep-Dodge-Hummer), candidates for nomination. lations Committee of the CATA board of directors DriveChicago ‘best practices’ seminar will review all nominations, and the full board will sub- Brightest futures await dealers with best Internet sites mit the name of one CATA Traditional showroom traffic at dealer- afterthoughts, and sometimes earn their po- candidate for consideration ships continues to decline. But traffic via tele- sition simply because they helped the dealer for the national award. phones and the Internet continues to grow. access his e-mail remotely. Winners will be named “How well are we addressing this except to Eddy said: “The general sales manager next January at the NADA complain that showroom traffic is down?” should say ‘I am the Internet manager, not convention in New Orleans. asked Lee Eddy. that guy tucked in the corner with a 386 The national winner are se- Eddy, who directs CATA Learning Univer- processor.’ The showroom now oversees lected by a panel of faculty sity, was one of eight speakers at an Internet 12 percent of our customer traffic; the Web members from the Univer- “best practices” seminar hosted by DriveChi- oversees 88 percent of the traffic. If I am sity of Michigan Graduate cago.com, May 28 at the CATA office. The the GSM, then I must oversee the whole pro- School of Business Admin- CATA owns and operates the DriveChicago cess.” istration. Web portal. “And if you don’t have your game cov- The CATA’s last nominee Eddy noted that dealership Internet man- ered,” said Mark Bilek, the CATA’s Internet for the award, in 2007, was agers often have shoddy cubicles erected as SEE DRIVECHICAGO, PAGE 4 Tom Shirey. 2 CATA Bulletin June 2, 2008 Star Nissan owner gives SUV, offers job to amputee car-theft victim Six months ago, Wensdae Williams lost her right leg below Chicago. the knee, when it was amputated after years of painful sur- “I can go back to living my everyday lifestyle like I did be- geries related to a freak accident. On May 9, Williams lost her fore,” said Williams. “Going to the doctors, therapy, the gro- 1995 van, when it was stolen from the handicapped parking cery store, just doing simple things. Getting back out there space in front of her Chicago residence. with my dogs.” The former steelworker had moved to the city’s Lakev- Berman said: “When I called Wendy and told her I was iew neighborhood to be closer to her doctors, but the theft going to [give her the SUV], she said ‘God is going to bless stripped Williams of mobility. Cue Michael Berman, owner you.’ And I said, ‘He already has.’ ” of The Berman Auto Group, which includes Mid-City Nis- Berman’s employees collected $1,000 to buy a gas gift card san and Mid-City Subaru-Lincoln-Mercury in Chicago; and for her. An insurance agent friend is working on providing Star Nissan in Niles. her coverage. Berman talked to Williams about hiring her af- Berman on May 21 gave Williams a 2002 Jeep Grand ter she recovers. Cherokee and a job offer to work on his dealerships’ Internet Chicago police said May 21 they had no leads on the stolen activities, according to a report televised that day by ABC 7 van. Free gun promotion fires up sales More on sales tax status of A Missouri dealer offered have guns. Guns or gas or a free handgun with every fuel, I’ll take the gun any- vehicles destined for Canada vehicle sold through May 31 time.” An article in the May 19 edition of this newsletter gener- and said sales quadrupled Moore said most of his ated several calls from dealers who questioned the allowance during the offer. customers already own guns. for Illinois dealers to issue drive-away permits for vehicles Customers of Max Mo- He said: “I get in a vehicle destined for Canada. The Illinois Revenue Department’s tors in Butler, Mo., could to bid a trade, there are guns Form ST-556, at a quick glance, does not appear to permit choose $250 in gas or a free on the seats, guns in the back that. semi-automatic handgun. windows. Everybody has a The instructions for completing the form’s Section 5, Box Employee Walter Moore, gun. There’s no backlash. A state that “If you issued a drive-away permit, write the who devised the promotion, “I don’t understand what’s drive-away permit number and the two-letter state abbrevia- said the handgun is the more the bad idea. Telling people tion of the buyer’s state of residence in the space provided. popular choice. they have the right to protect But drive-aways also can be issued for vehicles destined “Right now,” Moore said themselves.” for Canada because the Illinois Revenue Department expands in late May, “we’re running Vehicle buyers were re- the definition of a “state” to include Canada and Puerto Rico. 80 percent toward the gun. quired to pass a background See Section 1-195 of the Illinois Vehicle Code. Owner Mark Muller said ev- check before obtaining a gun. Adds the department’s Susie Lonzerotti: “We (also) have ery buyer “except one guy The local police chief said been allowing drive-away permits to Mexico on advice of our from Canada and one old he was fine with the promo- legal staff. I am trying to get that issue resolved so we can guy” chose the gun. tion as long as the weapons have that in writing.” “We’re just damn glad to weren’t handed out at the live in a free country where dealership. you can have a gun if you Illinois’s motor vehicle ad- The CATA Bulletin is published by the want to,” said Muller. vertising regulations prohibit Chicago Automobile Trade Association The logo of the GM dealers from offering free 18W200 Butterfield Rd. Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181-4810 dealership, located about 65 gifts in connection with the The CATA Bulletin is published and mailed every other Friday except miles southeast of Kansas purchase of a vehicle whose during the Chicago Auto Show, when it is not published. Listings of items for sale are subject to the approval of the CATA. City, features a cowboy hold- selling price is negotiated, Candidates for employment must submit a full resume to the Editor. ing a pistol. except if the gift is offered Review past editions dating to 1998 or search by subject at Jerry Hertzog, who was through a manufacturer’s http://cata.drivechicago.com. buying a new truck, said: program or a dealer advertis- Jerry H. Cizek III President, Publisher “Love guns, we all need to ing association. Erik K. Higgins Editor, Director of Dealer Affairs June 2, 2008 CATA Bulletin 3 More dealerships ‘going green’ McLean, Va. (May 14, 2008) -- Dealers across the “Doing something as simple as changing the country are saving money with a renewed focus on energy lighting in your showroom can have a real impact .” conservation. More than 500 dealers, for example, are Annette Sykora, NADA chairman. participating in the ENERGY STAR program. ENERGY STAR, a joint program of the U.S. Environ- mental Protection Agency and the U.S. Energy Depart- USA Today and the NADA recently celebrated the suc- ment, helps consumers save money and protect the envi- cess of one “green” dealer by awarding him with the 2007 ronment through energy efficient products and practices. Dealer Innovation Award. Jim Hand, president of Hand And program results are adding up. With the help of Motors in Manchester Center, Vt., was selected from four ENERGY STAR, Americans saved enough energy in finalists as the national winner of the annual award. 2007 to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to Hand Motors expects to save about $30,000 a year in those from 27 million cars—all while saving $16 billion on energy costs through its “reduce, recycle and carbon-off- their utility bills.

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