Ask most folks what the Chicago Automobile Trade Association does and the quick response is that it sponsors the nation’s largest consumer auto show, the annual Chicago Auto Show. True, and a task it has performed since 1935, but that’s only part of the answer.
The CATA is an organization representing over 400 Chicago-area new car dealers and 100 allied businesses. The CATA looks out for the well-being of its members while at the same time working to ensure they act in the best interests of businesses, consumers and manufacturers.
Currently, CATA dealerships employ more than 20,000 people in Chicagoland. The CATA, established more than a century ago, has a commitment to honesty and accuracy in operations and advertising.
Opening day of Chicago Auto Show brings the crowd, and the swag Robert Duffer
In the distance an engine roars and rubber burns.
Closer to the entrance the smell of burgers sizzling on the grill and the sounds of carnival barkers charging up a crowd with giveaways and promises commingles with a five-piece funk band with a heavy bass riff.
Floating in the lights overhead…
In the distance an engine roars and rubber burns.
Closer to the entrance the smell of burgers sizzling on the grill and the sounds of carnival barkers charging up a crowd with giveaways and promises commingles with a five-piece funk band with a heavy bass riff.
Floating in the lights overhead…
(Robert Duffer)
In 1966, in a step to better serve the consumer, new car dealers and other auto advertisers, the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois and the CATA established a program to review possible deceptive automotive advertising.
This self-regulatory program, still in operation, seeks to level the playing field for automotive advertisers while providing the public with reassurance that automotive advertising is truthful, whether it be about loan rates or fuel economy.
Auto dealers, as locally based small businesses, have provided good-paying jobs for their employees, who, in turn, contribute to their communities.
Chicago Auto Show: If you go Nausheen Husain and Jemal Brinson The 109th Chicago Auto Show takes over McCormick Place for a little more than a week beginning Feb. 11. The show brings nearly 1,000 kinds of vehicles from more than 30 automakers. When: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Feb. 11 to Feb. 20, (10 a.m.-8 p.m. Feb. 20) Where: McCormick Place North and South, 23rd Street… The 109th Chicago Auto Show takes over McCormick Place for a little more than a week beginning Feb. 11. The show brings nearly 1,000 kinds of vehicles from more than 30 automakers. When: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Feb. 11 to Feb. 20, (10 a.m.-8 p.m. Feb. 20) Where: McCormick Place North and South, 23rd Street… (Nausheen Husain and Jemal Brinson)
Chicagoland Dealers Care, the charitable arm of the CATA, raises funds for local and national charities, such as partnering every summer with USO of Illinois to host barbecues and provide free car washes while taking donations to help Illinois military troops and families.
The largest charitable event of the year for CATA is First Look for Charity on the eve of the Chicago Auto Show, which opens Saturday, Feb. 11. Attendees dressed in tuxedos and formal gowns with optional slippers tour the uncrowded auto show floor while noshing shrimp and sipping cocktails. Live entertainment and a chance to win a 2017 Acura TLX and 2017 Lexus NX complete the bill.
Best new cars at the 2017 Chicago Auto Show Robert Duffer
Just when it seems like there couldn’t be any more crossovers, here come pavement-blistering high performance variants capable of hitting 60 mph in 4.4 seconds. Just when it seems like a brand has defined itself, it breaks form and delivers a fastback sports sedan.
At the 109th installment of the…
Just when it seems like there couldn’t be any more crossovers, here come pavement-blistering high performance variants capable of hitting 60 mph in 4.4 seconds. Just when it seems like a brand has defined itself, it breaks form and delivers a fastback sports sedan.
At the 109th installment of the…
(Robert Duffer)
Tickets for the black-tie event on Friday, Feb. 10 are $275, with $222 of each ticket going to 18 local charitable organizations, from Special Olympics Illinois to the Jesse White Tumblers. Over $2.6 million was raised in 2016.
The event is a celebration of the largest and oldest auto show in the country.
Originally, bicycle promoter and editor of Motor Age magazine Samuel Miles produced the first Chicago Auto Show in 1901 in the Chicago Coliseum, which was reconstructed from the Libby Prison salvaged from the Civil War.
Things to drive at the 2017 Chicago Auto Show Robert Duffer
With an estimated 1,000 new vehicles spread out over 1.1 million square feet at the 2017 Chicago Auto Show, there may be temptation to drive one or a hundred of them. The doors of show floor models may be opened to get a feel behind the wheel, but most of the driving will be reserved for another…
With an estimated 1,000 new vehicles spread out over 1.1 million square feet at the 2017 Chicago Auto Show, there may be temptation to drive one or a hundred of them. The doors of show floor models may be opened to get a feel behind the wheel, but most of the driving will be reserved for another…
(Robert Duffer)
According to "First to 100," a history of the auto show published by the CATA, the dealer association was founded in 1904 and worked with Miles in putting on the show. When Miles died in 1935, the CATA took over sole sponsorship and has put on the show ever since.
Over the years the show has grown with the city and moved from the tiny Coliseum to the International Amphitheatre to the original McCormick along the lake to the current McCormick Place across the street, where the show occupies two exhibition halls with more than 1 million square feet of exhibition space, considerably larger than the original 58,000 square feet.
In addition to the show, the CATA provides a variety of services for dealers, automakers and consumers, such as providing legal services for its members as well as lobbying city, state and federal legislators.
Dave Sloan, current CATA president, fondly recalls changes that can be made when dealers act together as a group.
"Back in 2013 our board decided to try to change the way leases were taxed in Illinois. The state had charged a tax based on the value of the vehicle, not on the length of the lease, which often was three years. We tried twice before but couldn’t get Governors (Jim) Edgar or (George) Ryan to sign the bills that we got through the legislature. As a result, lease penetration in the state was only 14 percent, far below the level in markets in the rest of the country.
"This time we were finally successful and Gov. (Pat) Quinn signed the bill into law in the spring of 2014. Beginning the following January, leases would be taxed on the value of the lease transaction only and not a second time when trading the car in for new purchase."
Not done, the CATA got together with the automakers’ local sales reps, and zone and regional managers to finance a $1.2 million campaign to alert and educate consumers of the lease tax changes. In the first year, lease penetration rose by 30 percent.
Jim Mateja, former Tribune autos columnist, dies at 71 Robert Duffer
Jim Mateja was an award-winning automotive columnist who spent 47 years covering the auto industry for the Chicago Tribune. His widespread knowledge of the industry and charming wit in distilling both marketing mumbo-jumbo and the mechanically complex endeared him to generations of readers, auto…
Jim Mateja was an award-winning automotive columnist who spent 47 years covering the auto industry for the Chicago Tribune. His widespread knowledge of the industry and charming wit in distilling both marketing mumbo-jumbo and the mechanically complex endeared him to generations of readers, auto…
(Robert Duffer)
Jim Mateja covered autos at the Chicago Tribune for 47 years. He died Jan. 30. For a retrospective of his work, visit www.chicagotribune.com/mateja.
2017 Chicago Auto Show at a glance
When: Feb.11 through Feb. 20, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Feb. 20)
Where: McCormick Place North and South, 23rd Street and Lake Shore Drive.
Admission:
Adults (13 and older): $13;
Senior citizens (62+) and children (7-12): $7;
Children 6 and younger with a paying adult: Free.
CTA bus: No. 3 King Drive and No. 21 Cermak.
CTA rail: Green Line stop at Cermak.
Special buses: Between Ogilvie Center and Union Station, Museum Campus and McCormick Place, in 7- to 30-minute intervals.
Metra: Electric District line stops directly at McCormick Place, running from downtown to University Park on the Far South Side.
Website: www.chicagoautoshow.com
For ongoing coverage, visit: www.chicagotribune.com/autoshow
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