CATA News

The weekly automotive-themed radio show on WLS AM 890 featuring DriveChicago General Manager Mark Bilek and CATA Director of Marking Jim OBrill gained a new “official” host this past Saturday. Ray Stevens is a multi-award winning Chicago and National broadcast personality. He has received prestigious ACM and CMA awards for Major Market personality of the year. Ray is a four-time winner of the Country Radio Broadcasters morning show personality of the year and is a past Nominee of the Country Radio Hall of Fame.

In addition to his radio work Ray is a huge supporter of Chicagoland charities and can be seen on FOX 32 Chicago doing his “good in the hood” segments. Ray has been nominated for the Marconi and Crystal awards for his work in the community and was awarded the Semper Fidelis award from the Marines for his long-standing commitment to veterans charities.

DriveChicago on WLS AM 890 airs every Saturday from 8-9 a.m. and is normally replayed on Sunday afternoons. CATA dealers are encouraged to play the dealer-friendly DriveChicago radio program in the their waiting rooms on Saturday morning. If you are interested in advertising on DriveChicago on WLS, contact Dan Richmanat the station.

The Internal Revenue Service has revised how it classifies vehicles potentially eligible for a Section 30D Clean Vehicle Credit. As a result, more new battery electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV), and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) models/trim levels are now considered “SUVs, vans, and pick-ups” for purposes of the credit’s $80,000 MSRP cap. All other BEV, PHEV, and FCEV make/models (e.g., sedans, coupes, station wagons, etc.) are subject to a $55,000 MSRP cap.  

The revised vehicle classifications are based on those in www.fueleconomy.gov, a shopping resource commonly used by both dealers and prospective purchasers, and apply retroactively to January 1, 2023. A listing of which make/models fall under which MSRP cap is available here.

Note: Some BEVs, PHEVs, and FCEVs sold since January 1, 2023, may now be potentially eligible for a Section 30D Credit where they weren’t before. Consequently, selling dealers should be prepared to provide purchaser-taxpayers with a Section 30D Clean Vehicle Credit report form as necessary. See IRS FAQs, Topic B, Questions 7 and 9. A sample Section 30D report form is found on the NADA Regulatory Affairs Alternative Fuel Vehicle and Refueling Incentive EV Incentive Webpage along with materials addressing the Section 30D and other the Inflation Reduction Act EV incentives.   

Well before the pandemic hurt the supply chain and vehicle inventory dropped, the average price paid for a new car in America was already on the rise. But the vehicles themselves are not getting more expensive – the options consumers add to them are.

According to two decades of data from auto website Edmunds.com, options like audio packages, engine or tire upgrades, and roof racks are the biggest factor in raising vehicle prices.

According to Edmunds, the average purchase price of a new vehicle was about $30,000 in 2009, $40,000 in 2019, and almost $46,000 in 2022. However, the average sticker price for base models, standard vehicles without any bells or whistles, has decreased (after accounting for inflation).

The least expensive car for the 2023 model year is the Nissan Versa, priced at $15,730. This model includes features considered standard like a push-button start, blind spot monitoring, and a touchscreen. The vehicle is priced comparably to the most affordable cars of 2002 (after accounting for inflation). On the other hand, the average price of a GMC Sierra 2500 HD, as sold, is now double the base price.

Makes and models across the board have seen a jump in the last decade in the difference between the base sticker price and the average sticker with options. The average price gap between base models and vehicles as optioned up by customers has increased from 24.6% in 2002 to 38.1% in 2022. Some examples include:

The CATA offices in Oakbrook Terrace will be closed from Friday, Feb. 3 to Tuesday, Feb. 22 as the staff moves down to McCormick Place to produce the Chicago Auto Show. As a result, dealer forms are temporarily unavailable, and members are unable to use CATA office meeting facilities. Form ordering will be temporarily disabled and re-open Feb. 22. Future meeting space may still be reserved by calling the CATA main line, 630-492-2282.

The Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003 is a law that prohibits employers from discriminating between employees based on sex. In 2021 the Illinois legislature passed an amendment to the law by adding Section 11, which requires all private employers with 100 or more employees in Illinois to submit demographic and wage date to IDOL, along with the employer’s most recently filed Annual Employer Information Report EEO-1 and an Equal Pay Compliance Statement certifying that, among other things, the average compensation for its female and minority employees is not consistently below the average compensation for its male and non-minority employees.

A businesses’ total number of employees is the total number of people employed by the business who worked in or were based out of Illinois on December 31 of the twelve-month calendar year immediately prior to the year you are required to submit an EPRC application.

An EPRC application requires a business to submit to IDOL: (1) a $150 filing fee; (2) wage records, including a copy of your most recently filed EEO-1; and (3) an Equal Pay Compliance Statement.

Businesses are required to submit an initial EPRC application between March 24, 2022, and March 23, 2024. IDOL will assign an application due date that is within this timeframe and will notify the business of this due date at least 120 calendar days before your application will be due.

The 2023 What Drives Her program returns to the Chicago Auto Show Social Media Preview held Friday, Feb. 10 at McCormick Place. This program, now in its sixth year, celebrates women in the auto industry who are deserving recognition. The CATA invites you out to join in the celebration and share in the content. The event will take place on the main stage just off the Grand Concourse, outside of the North Exhibit Hall of McCormick Place. Event pre-registration is required.

Once again bringing together influential women in the automotive industry, this year’s event will focus on how women are leading the charge in the electric vehicle (EV) revolution. In addition, the What Drives Her awards program also is set to recognize females and advocates within the industry.

One of the awards that will be presented will go to a local retailer. The What Drives Her “Best Retailer” Award will recognize a female retailer who is employed by a Chicago-area dealership and demonstrates a high level of commitment and to any task at hand, whether in sales, service, finance or technical support. Last year’s award recipient was Megan Deters, sales manager at Brilliance Honda.

This year's finalists are the following:

Other nominees include Christina Baker, dealer partner, Rod Baker Ford; Linda Jacobs, dealer principal, Bill Jacobs Motorsport; Tina Pade, controller, Arlington Toyota; and Danielle West, HR director/operations manager, Fox Valley Volkswagen Buick-GMC.

To register, click here.

The latest Chicago Auto Outlook (always available in the Member Section of the CATA Website) forecasts a rise in vehicle registrations over the next 12 months. Supply chain issues persisted last year, and vehicle production cutbacks were significantly higher than projected at the beginning of the year. New retail light vehicle registrations in the area declined 19.2% from 2021 to 2022. National market fell 14.9%.

According to the baseline forecast, area registrations are predicted to approach 280,000 units this year, a 6.3% improvement from 2022. See sidebar to right for alternative upside and downside projections.

Pent-up demand is accumulating as new vehicles sales remain below baseline line levels. Auto Outlook estimates that approximately 140,000 new vehicle purchases will be postponed since the onset of the pandemic in 2020 through the end of this year, about 48% of sales in an average year! In addition, vehicle transaction prices are likely to drift lower as supplies become more in-line with demand. These two factors will give a boost to the market that should offset the negatives listed next.

Supply chain issues are lingering, and new vehicle affordability is weakening due to high inflation, increasing interest rates, slower economic growth, and falling trade in values. Household incomes are increasing, but not fast enough to keep pace with inflation. The stimulative impact resulting from pent up demand will be tempered due to softer economic conditions, but sales rates should still recover from current levels.

Among the top 25 sellers in the area market, Tesla, BMW, Kia, Hyundai, and GMC had the largest percentage gains (or smallest declines) in registrations from 2021 to 2022. Brand results in 2022 were almost entirely a function of vehicle inventories, not the typical determinants of new product launches and marketing.

EV market share in the area increased from 3.0% in 2021 to 5.7% last year. Electric vehicle share has increased by 4.6 share points from 2018 to 2022. Top five selling models last year were Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson, Chevrolet Equinox and Tesla Model Y.

Click to download the latest Chicago Auto Outlook.

On January 10, 2023, the Illinois legislature passed the Paid Leave for All Workers (PLFAW) Act and sent it to a Governor Pritzker for his signature. The Governor has stated that he intends to sign the bill into law. Once signed, it will become effective January 1, 2024.

The law would require nearly all covered Illinois employers to provide covered employees up to 40 hours of paid leave per year to be used for any purpose. This will make Illinois the third state with a mandatory paid time off law, following Nevada and Maine.

On January 1, 2024, or whenever employment begins, whichever is later, covered employees will accrue one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked. Employees can accrue up to 40 hours in a twelve-month period, which is any twelve-month period designated by the employer in writing at the time of hire. Employees may carry over up to 40 hours of paid leave from one twelve-month period to the next. Employees cannot use their paid leave until they have completed 90 calendar days of employment, or March 31, 2024, whichever is later.

The law expressly prohibits employers from requiring documentation or certification to support an employee’s need for leave. Employees must receive their hourly rate of pay when using paid leave, which does not include commissions or gratuities. However, an employee’s hourly rate of pay for leave cannot drop below the applicable minimum wage.

Employers may use other types of paid leave policies (vacation or sick pay) to satisfy their obligations under the law. The law states that an employer is not required to modify its leave policy if it satisfies the minimum amount of leave required AND the employee is permitted to take paid leave for any reason.

The law provides that an employer cannot require that an employee seek or find a replacement worker to cover his paid leave time.

There are record keeping requirements and posting and notice requirements in the law (if an employer has a workforce that primarily does not speak English, the employer must post the notice in the appropriate language spoken by the employees). Additionally, the law prohibits employers from taking adverse action against employees for exercising their rights under the law; opposing practices the employee believes to be in violation of the law; or supporting others’ exercise of rights under the law.

We expect that additional guidance will be forthcoming from the Illinois Department of Labor prior to the law’s January 1, 2024 implementation.

CATA dealers are urged to take the NADA’s Winter 2023 Dealer Attitude Survey. The deadline for filing is TODAY, Feb. 3. Click here to take the survey.

Brilliance Subaru in Elgin will be featured in a commercial that will air during the Puppy Bowl airing on Animal Planet during halftime of the Super Bowl. The dealer principal at Brilliance is former CATA Chairman and current Chicago Auto Show Chairman Kevin Keefe. Brilliance hosted several large dog adoption events over the last 12 months and the commercial will tell the story of one special adoption. Click here to watch the commercial.