Why are car dealerships closed on Sunday in Illinois?

Many assume that this has been the case forever and is an old blue law related to the vice of technology or the preservation of horse drawn buggies. In fact, Illinois automobile dealerships were open on Sunday until it was outlawed in 1984. It was outlawed for reasons of cost cutting, but not one that was good for competition, the industry, or buyers.

The Big Three new (Chrysler, GM, and Ford) were looking to cut costs at a time of bad car sales (and bad American cars – look up “’80s Malaise”). Noting that most Sunday shoppers were tire-kicking families, they devised a plan to drop to 6 days/week and cut dealership costs by more than 10%. However, fearing that they would lose business to scrappy 7-day-a-week, used & foreign dealerships, they enacted a plan to force all dealerships to close on Sunday. They lobbied car-loving politicians (with strategic donations, discounts, free loaners, and who knows what else) to pass a law ensuring that no dealer would be able to take advantage of their desire to cut costs.

In the end, Ford, GM, and Chrysler got what they wanted and spent all the money they saved on building better and more competitive cars. Oh wait, no they didn’t.

Bonus question. How many car models do those big three produce today? Answer. Combined, you can count them on two hands.