Looking to the Future and Honoring the Auto Industry’s Best: A Recap of Day Three at NADA Show 2020

Published February 17, 2020

Author

Sheryll Poe

Consultant

NADA Show 2020 went full throttle on its third day as thousands of dealers and managers, OEM execs, allied industry and international guests attended sessions, workshops and events carefully designed to help them learn, motivate, dive deep, and collaborate.

Here are some other highlights from the day.

Good Dogs Bring Out the Generosity

The annual (and crowd-pleasing) KAR Global charity auction brought adorable assistance dogs and their human heroes to the Expo floor at the NADA Show. Now in its ninth year, the auction has raised $400,000 for the NADA Foundation and Canine Companions for Independence, which provides highly trained assistance dogs for children, adults and veterans with disabilities.

This year, generous dealers and exhibitors, including Joe Verde, president and founder of the Joe Verde Sales and Management Training, Inc., haggled for the winning bid for a VIP, all access, “Epic Experience” package to the Indianapolis 500. This year’s auction raised more than $97,000, which will go toward training these amazing animals.

Speaking of charity, Susan Moffitt of Moffitt Automotive of Shreveport, La. was named 2020 Time Dealer of the Year in recognition for her work supporting local communities and charities. Hear what she had to say about her philanthropy and winning the prestigious award in this video.

ATD Show: Truck Dealer of the Year, New Chairman

Meanwhile, the ATD Show closed out its final day by honoring Oscar Horton, president and CEO of Sun State International Trucks, LLC in Tampa, Fla. as the 2020 Truck Dealer of the Year. The national award, sponsored by ATD, Heavy Duty Trucking magazine and Procede Software, recognizes commercial-truck dealers who demonstrate a track record of success in dealership management, service to the industry and community impact.

During his first speech as ATD chairman, Steve Bassett, dealer principal of General Truck Sales in Muncie, Ind., shared his goals and proposals for ATD during his upcoming two-year term, as well as highlighting the pending evolution of the commercial truck industry in terms of both positive product development and potential threats to the industry.

Learning from Peers, Experts and Even (Former) Politicians

Each year at the NADA Show, members and attendees choose the topics they would like to see discussed in the popular peer-to-peer learning sessions, collectively known as The Exchange. These roundtable discussions feature brainstorming and problem-solving among auto industry peers on a wide range of topics – from aligning your digital image with your dealership image to taking steps to reduce dealership expenses.

The NADA Live Stage continued to be a hub of learning as NADA experts and leaders shared words of wisdom and lessons on retail automotive hiring, marketing, sales calls, website ADA compliance, and diversity and inclusion.

Diversity and inclusion was a hot topic at this year’s NADA Show and a roster of impressive speakers took to the stage during the Women Driving Auto Retail brunch at the Encore. Mindy McAlindon of the Association of National Advertisers talked about gender bias in advertising and the SeeHer intiative. McAlindon was followed by a panel of dealership owners and human resource experts who offered their insights and tactics on how to pave the way for more women to join the automotive retail industry.

Sunday’s programming ended with the General Session, which featured a tribute to the incredible career of Toyota’s Jim Lentz. Finally, former UK Prime Minister David Cameron spoke on the new political reality in the United States and the United Kingdom, and how that reality echoes across the world.

And amidst all the excitement, we quizzed some folks on why they attend this epic gathering of automotive retail entrepreneurs. Here's what they said: