LOS ANGELES — Dealership showrooms began opening in Los Angeles County on Friday and are poised to reopen across the rest of California, the nation’s biggest new-vehicle market, after state and local officials eased some of the country’s strictest rules to counter the coronavirus outbreak.
After permitting only online sales for the past several weeks, the new rules outlined by Los Angeles County officials allow explicitly for the opening of “car dealer showrooms (open for sales with adherence to distancing and infection control protocols),” with a 5-page list of health and safety protocols published Friday by the public health department.
Come Monday, the entire state should be open to in-store auto sales, with the city of Fresno setting the day for relaxed rules and six counties in the Bay Area this week permitting the reopening of businesses that are primarily located outdoors, according to the California New Car Dealers Association.
“Effective no later than Monday, every…
