Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 28

DDW & CATA | Feb. 13-14, 2018 | Chicago

Cover Story

INTERVIEW WITH THE 2018 CHAIRMAN
OF THE CHICAGO AUTO SHOW
John Hennessy,

owner of River View Ford, in suburban
Oswego, Illinois, has spent more than 30 years in the auto
retailing industry. In addition to running one of the most
active and popular dealerships in his region, John led a
board of 15 dealers when he served as the 2016-2017 Chicago
Automobile Trade Association (CATA) chairman. The CATA is
comprised of more than 400 franchised new-car dealers and,
collectively, those members employ about 20,000 people in the
Chicago metropolitan area. John has served on the National
Dealer Council as well as the Ford Marketing Advisory Board.
Leadership runs in the family, as
John's father was a prominent
dealer in the area and chaired the
Chicago Auto Show forty years ago.
Proud to continue a family tradition, John is the 2018 Chairman of
the Chicago Auto Show, the largest
auto show in North America and an
event held more times than any other auto exposition on the continent.
In this month's dealer interview,
John talks about his tenure in
leadership positions, shares tips
on running a successful dealership,
conﬁdes what he likes most about
the industry, and discusses his
dealership's commitment to their
local community, especially eﬀorts
to raise funds for and awareness of
juvenile diabetes. His commitment
to both the industry and his local
community is long-standing and
unshakeable.

FOLLOWING IN YOUR
FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS,
YOU SERVED AS THE

28

JANUARY 2018

CHICAGO AUTOMOBILE
TRADE ASSOCIATION (CATA)
CHAIRMAN IN 2016-2017.
WHAT DID IT MEAN TO YOU
TO BE THE CHAIRMAN OF
CATA, A POSITION YOUR
FATHER HELD FORTY YEARS
AGO?

It was truly an honor, ﬁrst and
especially to be part of the Chicago
Automobile Trade Association. It's
a great organization that allows
me to help the dealers we represent. A lot of dealers wonder how
they can make a diﬀerence in this
industry. The CATA is one of the
ways. During my term at CATA,
we were able to change the lease
laws in Illinois. These laws had not
been changed, just about since cars
were ﬁrst being sold in the state.
We were one of only two states
that actually taxed the full price of
the vehicle. After we changed the
law two years ago, we taxed only
the monthly payment! Our lease

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

sales in Illinois went from about 10
percent to around 30 percent. That
not only beneﬁtted the consumer
because they saved more on their
car payment, it beneﬁtted the dealers because we could lease more
cars and we see the customer more
often. It also actually beneﬁtted the
state, because the state made more
money.
In addition, we handle other
kinds of legislation for dealers. For
example, our franchise laws. Automobile dealers have a lot of money
and sweat equity tied up in their
franchises. We must make sure the
balance of power is fair between
the dealers, manufacturers and our
consumers. It's tough as one dealer
to go down to Springﬁeld and try to
make a diﬀerence. When you add
the strength of the CATA and our
partners at the Illinois Automobile
Association, we become a big force
that our legislators understand
and appreciate. That's just one of
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - January 2018
