The stage was set and the shiny glass trophy gleamed as the second annual NADA Show Pitch Competition kicked off on the Live Stage on Thursday, Feb. 1.
Last year’s inaugural Pitch Competition was so popular, this year’s competition was expanded to three separate categories – education, exhibitors and philanthropy.
For the education competition, Elgie Bright, automotive department chair at Michigan’s Northwood University, explained the rules: seven students from Northwood University would share their best ideas on how to improve the auto retail industry. Each of the students had two minutes to present their best elevator pitches followed by two minutes of questions from the panel of three distinguished judges.
The judges -- Wes Lutz, NADA director and president of Extreme Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep, RAM Inc., in Jackson, Mich.; Anita Castriota, managing partner at Castriota Chevrolet Inc. in Hudson, Fla., and Scott Dube, NADA director and president of Bill Dube Hyundai in Wilmington, Mass. – scored each contestant on their presentations.
The students’ ideas covered every aspect and department – from rethinking the showroom to software to streamline the online buying process – and other ways to solve pain points throughout the dealership.
The NADA Show Pitch Competition students were:
- Caleb Bradley
- Vanessa Collins
- Brooke Engelhardt
- Kenneth Hicks
- Sawyer Jordan
- Noah Koss
- Delanie Lucas
The winner of the shiny glass trophy – and a $2,000 VISA gift card – was Noah Koss, an automotive marketing & management junior. He suggested creating personalized chatbots powered by AI that would include avatars that look like the dealership’s sales staff. Not only would these personalized chatbots help create a guided shopping experience for customers, but they would also allow dealers to “double your sales team without doubling your costs,” Koss promised.
The next round of the NADA Show Pitch Competition will feature exhibitors and will take place at 11 am on Friday, Feb. 2.
Watch the livestream from the Live Stage all week at NADA Show 2024.
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