Business View Magazine | Volume 9, Issue 2

60 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 2 a level of service our customers demand. When the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in mid-March of 2020, dealerships in Nevada saw a precipitous decline in sales volume. The Nevada new vehicle market was off to a good start in the first two months of the year (more accurately, the first two-and-a-half months), then the bottom fell out. Total new vehicle sales encompassing the months of March and April of 2020, respectively were down a stunning 38.2% compared to the same period of 2019. While these numbers were certainly staggering, they likely would have been much worse had NFADA not been successful in convincing state leaders that our industry must be deemed an “essential business” and be allowed to remain opened. NFADA was only able to accomplish this by putting together a comprehensive draft COVID-19 mitigation plan in order to help minimize the spread of the novel coronavirus. The plan included such things as: frequently scheduled and enhanced sanitization of all areas of the dealership; suspension of test drives; removal of vehicles in the showroom in an effort to reduce potential contact spread and to allow for greater distancing of customers; and expanded remote/online sales including delivery of the vehicle to a customer at his or her place of employment or residence. Fortunately, Nevada’s new vehicle dealerships were able to reopen shortly after the beginning of the pandemic due to our mitigation plan