Hurricane Sally recently made landfall in Alabama, but despite this setback, the auto industry remains strong. Today we’re talking to Tom Dart, president of the Automobile Dealers Association of Alabama. In this segment, Dart and anchor Jim Fitzpatrick first discuss how the storm affected the Alabama coastline. While there was damage to local towns near the Mobile area, dealers were fortunately, largely unaffected by the hurricane.
Switching gears, as part of a recently passed Rebuild Alabama law, state money from the Volkswagen settlement will be awarded in grants to build electric vehicle charging stations. It will also allow electronic title applications in the near future.
“I think having adequate, rapid charging stations will help, but the [program] is going to be an interesting thing to see,” says Dart. “So, we’ll see if it pays off.”
The pair also tackle the current COVID-19 parameters for Alabama dealers. Gov. Kay Ivey was very receptive to keeping dealerships open as essential businesses through the pandemic. Dart says that dealers remained completely open this entire year so far. However, the are some restrictions on the number of customers that can be in the showroom at one time. The biggest challenge Alabama dealers now face in the shortage of new inventory.
To hear more from Tom Dart, be sure to watch our entire interview above.
Did you enjoy this interview with ADAA’s Tom Dart? Please share your thoughts, comments, or questions regarding this topic with host Jim Fitzpatrick at jfitzpatrick@cbtnews.com.
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