NADA Show 2022 crossed the finish line on Sunday, March 13, waving the checker flag on four days of education, networking, make meetings and best-in-the-industry event programming, including an inspirational afternoon General Session featuring Ret. U.S. Army Staff Sergeant and Recalibrated Warrior Travis Mills.The main takeaway from this year’s NADA Show? America’s franchised auto dealers are comfortably in the drivers’ seat when it comes to selling, servicing and educating consumers on electric vehicles (EVs) and are ready to go full throttle for the rest of 2022 and into 2023.
Here are some more highlights from the final day:
Franchise Meetings: Making the Dealer Voice Heard
NADA’s Industry Relations promotes communication between manufacturers and member dealers via franchise-specific meetings and NADA’s exclusive biannual Dealer Attitude Survey. These surveys are a powerful and proven way that dealers can get their voices heard, and the OEMs take the results seriously, NADA President and CEO Mike Stanton said.
“I want to thank the dealers for taking the time to fill that survey out. We’ve got a 70% response rate, which is incredible,” Stanton noted during a session on the Live Stage. “So, when as NADA staff and dealer leadership take this information to the car companies, we’ve got your voice. So keep filling that survey out.”
The NADA Show is centered around building better, more open communications between the dealers and the manufacturers. This year, there were 25 franchise meetings representing every major manufacturer, giving dealers a chance to meet with their respective OEM executives to discuss their marketing plans, sales outlooks and product launches.
NADA, ATD Chairmen on the NADA Live Stage
The Live Stage continued to be the hub for news, education and discussions on what the future of auto retailing holds for dealers.
On Sunday, Stanton and 2022 NADA Chairman Michael Alford joined NADA’s Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Jonathan Collegio for a wide-ranging overview at what’s ahead for NADA and franchised dealerships. “We’ve been educating. We’ve been advocating. One thing our industry does really well is when we align, you can see the power of our industry,” Alford said.
The ATD Show closed out its final day on Saturday, but newly installed ATD Chairman Scott McCandless stayed in town to do a NADA Live Stage session with NADA’s Jonathan Collegio.
He shared his goals and platform for ATD during his two-year term. “Today, 50% of the trucks out there are from 2010 or older. It would be good if we could incentivize getting those trucks off the road so we can have safer, cleaner trucks on the road,” McCandless said about the Federal Excise Tax (FET), an issue that ATD has been front and center on for several years.
Women Driving Auto Retail Video Contest Winner Announced
Now in its fifth year, the announcement of the winner of the Women Driving Auto Retail video contest on the Live Stage is one of the most exciting events at NADA Show.
More than 150 video entries representing women in every dealership department and career levels submitted inspirational videos describing how their auto retail career journey began and why the industry is a great career path for other women. Each of the 10 video semifinalists received a $500 gift card and a scholarship to NADA’s Professional Series, a training program to foster dealership talent working in any dealership department.
Service Manager Carmen Hinton of Carter Myers Automotive’s Valley Subaru in Staunton, Virginia was announced as the winner and will receive a $1,000 gift card plus complimentary registration to NADA Show 2023 in Dallas.
“Never Give Up, Never Quit”
Travis Mills is one of only five servicemen from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to survive quadruple amputee injuries. He had a simple message for auto dealers: “Never give up. Never quit.” Mills has faced enormous adversity and dedicated his life to helping others overcome daunting challenges. His Travis Mills Foundation supports other “recalibrated” veterans and their families.
See you at NADA Show 2023 in Dallas!
Missed any of the action? Read recaps of day one, day two and day three. Be sure to revisit all things NADA Show on social media using the hashtag #NADASHOW on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
