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More information continues to come from Washington related to the pandemic and potential business closures nationwide. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued the following guidance, which identifies key industries that would be allowed to operate should a federal shutdown/quarantine be declared. Auto Repair facilities would be included as part of that group, and your dealership and your parts department would be allowed to function as normal (or somewhat normal) in this trying business environment.

While this does not specifically identify that your sales department can remain open, discussions are still ongoing as to whether that will be allowed. We will keep you posted as we learn more.


In response to a joint NADA/Alliance letter sent to President Donald J. Trump stressing the need to consider auto dealerships essential businesses, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued guidance today that includes automotive repair and maintenance facilities on the list of the nation’s essential critical infrastructure workforce.

In the cover memo, DHS and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) stress that “As state and local communities consider COVID-19-related restrictions, CISA is offering this list to assist prioritizing activities related to continuity of operations and incident response, including the appropriate movement of critical infrastructure workers within and between jurisdictions.” 

In the body of the guidance, DHS and CISA go on to say: “This guidance and accompanying list are intended to support State, Local, and industry partners in identifying the critical infrastructure sectors and the essential workers needed to maintain the services and functions Americans depend on daily and that need to be able to operate resiliently during the COVID-19 pandemic response.” 

The inclusion of automotive maintenance repair facilities can be found on p. 8 of the attached guidance.


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