Auto Show revs into Bradley Centre March 3-5

The Chatham Auto show returns to the Bradley Centre after a three-year absence due to the pandemic.

Greg Hetherington, the event’s organizer and general manager of Five Amigos Broadcasting, can’t wait to open the doors on March 3.

“It’s certainly an opportunity to showcase what our local car dealers do and what they’re all about,” he said. “This is an opportunity to meet the owners, the people that work at these car dealerships. These are the same people who have kids on your kid’s hockey team.”

It’s also a chance for the public to do some one-stop auto shopping. In the past, the show has seen between 3,000 and 4,000 people stop by on a given weekend, to proverbially kick the tires on new vehicles and discuss the pros of each automobile of interest.

“People want to get out and they want to see cars and they want the opportunity to have them all in one room,” Hetherington said. “This encourages people to shop at home too. We’ve been preaching it for 10 years now. It seems to be making an impact.”

If a dealer has the make and model of a vehicle a customer desires, there’s no point going out of town to make a purchase.

“These people give back to the community,” Hetherington stressed of the dealers.

Nine of the 10 Chatham dealerships will have vehicles on display this year. Hetherington said the 10th respectfully declined due to a lack of inventory.

“One of the dealers is having a very difficult time getting inventory. They wanted to showcase new product and they were nervous they couldn’t do it,” he explained.

During the heart of the pandemic, new-vehicle inventory was an issue for most every car dealership. It’s recovered to some extent, but not fully as of yet.

“Inventory is getting back to normal, but it is certainly taking longer than many dealers expected,” Hetherington said. “We’ll probably have about 80 per cent of what we’d normally have in terms of numbers for showcasing cars.”

SUVs remain the hot genre of interest in terms of style and vehicle type, he said. And electric vehicles will have a presence at the show as well.

New this year at the Auto Show is an admission fee. But with charities in need, Hetherington said it was an easy decision to make.

“One hundred per cent of the money is going to charity,” he said.

Well, money or canned goods. Admission for an adult to the show is $5 or a non-perishable food item. Volunteers will be at the door accepting the donations.

The food will be divided up between the Salvation Army and Outreach for Hunger food banks, while monetary donations will be split between the Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent and R.O.C.K. Missions.

The show runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. March 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 4, and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 5.

Hetherington said March 4 will have a special zone for children.

“On Saturday, we’re calling it Family Day. We have a room that’s dedicated for the kids,” he said. “There will be movies and activities.”