Today, May 13, 2020, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order 142, which permits the resumption of non-essential construction, curbside pickup at non-essential retail businesses, and car gatherings for the purpose of drive-through and drive-in events.
However, this Order does not provide dealers with any substantive relief from the constraints of the Governor’s previous Executive and Administrative Orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, dealers have been allowed to engage in online and remote retail sales and curbside pickups since March 30, 2020, when Governor Murphy issued Administrative Order 2020-6 in response to NJ CAR’s aggressive lobbying effort.
An additional Order, loosening restrictions on test drives was also issued April 27, in response to NJ CAR’s request to allow dealers to resume by-appointments sales in the showroom. In other words, this new Executive Order allows non-essential retail business to do what dealers have been able to do since late March thanks to NJ CAR.
NJ CAR continues to aggressively lobby the Governor’s Office to reopen retail showrooms by appointment only and will keep its members apprised of any changes in that regard.