From hot new products to social events and conference workshops, it was an action-packed few days at North America’s largest annual conference and trade show for auto dealers
NADA Chief Economist Paul Taylor: "giddy" about 2012.
Manheim President Sandy Schwartz: “We are now taking the auction to the car.”
It was more than just a “feeling” that attendance was brisk and the mood was upbeat at the NADA Convention and Expo. Organizers say this year’s three-day event held Feb. 3-6 in Las Vegas drew about 22,000 attendees — an increase of 22 per cent over 2011 attendance.
The buzz was evident on the exhibition floor where exhibit space increased by almost 30 per cent and the 507 companies exhibiting their wares was up 42 per cent over last year. There was also some new blood, as more than 25 per cent were exhibiting at NADA for the first time, and there were 50 companies on the waiting list to exhibit.
Sales outlook bright
At one of the event’s many press conferences, NADA’s Chief Economist Paul Taylor told reporters that things look bright for 2012 car sales in the U.S. Taylor said he predicts a “rebuilding year” for the auto industry resulting in 13.495 million new cars and light trucks purchased or leased in 2012.
If this figure is reached, it will mark the third consecutive year of rising new vehicle sales. This is also up sharply from the 10.4 million number in 2009 when the industry was battered by spiraling economic conditions in the U.S.
After his presentation, Taylor’s colleague Jonathan Banks, Executive Automotive Analyst with NADA Used Car Guide, presented an optimistic overview of the used car market. “We are both basically giddy,” Taylor joked with reporters during his comments at the end of the press conference, and added that the optimism is based on sound fundamentals. Taylor credits factors such as better credit conditions, more generous incentives and low interest rates for the boost in sales projections.
News from the show floor
Canadian auto dealer was at this year’s event, attending press conferences and talking with exhibitors and dealer attendees on the show floor.
At their press conference, Manheim President Sandy Schwartz introduced the company’s Simulcast Everywhere product. This new online auction sales platform allows dealers to buy and sell vehicles located off-site, in real time with a live auctioneer. The company was showcasing the system in its booth, holding live auctions and giving away lucrative prizes to participants who took part at the 10 live auction stations using iPads to place their bids in real-time.
“For us at Manheim it’s really exciting to see this new product,” says Schwartz. “The car has always come to the auction. We are now taking the auction to the car.”
Schwartz said 2011 was an interesting year. “Here at Manheim it was a year we really re-engineered our businesses. We really focused on processes, and most important our customers.”
Schwartz said the company spent a lot of time looking at where wholesale car buying is going to be in the future. “We still strongly believe at Manheim that cars are going to go through the lanes,” he says. “How they are sold technologically will really be the race.”
Joe George, Manheim’s Group VP Digital says car dealers are increasingly going digital, adding the company’s digital marketplace gets five million visits per month. “That’s more visits each month than the grand canyon gets in one year,” says George.
Tom Webb, Manheim’s Chief Economist, told reporters that used vehicle sales were up more than five per cent in 2011. “Used vehicles remain where it’s at,” says Webb.
Bank presence
In the TD Auto Finance booth, there were long lineups as attendees lined up to get autographs from a variety of big name celebrity athletes including former Pittsburgh Steeler star running back Jerome Bettis. The bank was also giving away cash prizes in special contests, which also attracted the crowds.
“We are getting more buzz than you can ever imagine,” says Thomas Gilman, President and CEO, TD Auto Finance and Executive Vice President, TD Bank Group, adding it was not just from the show floor. “At dinners and social events we are hearing that the whole convention knows TD is here, that TD has grown, and that it has a great presence.”
Gilman says the goal was to have a different approach. “Our approach has always been to have a connection with the dealer principal,” says Gilman. “We wanted to make a big splash.”
Gilman says auto dealers on both sides of the border are feeling optimistic, and looking forward to a strong 2012. “Overall, Canadian dealers are pretty stable, and optimistic about growing their business.”
Quicker quotes
ResponseLogix and Digital Air Strike joined forces and the leaders of the newly-merged company were on hand at the NADA event to make the announcement and to discuss their new product offerings. After the show, the company decided it would be called Digital Air Strike.
ResponseLogix delivers multi-vehicle price quotes, lead follow up and behavioural target programs for dealers. Digital Air Strike provides social media and reputation management products.
“Only one per cent of all leads are actually getting the full response that the consumer seeks,” says Tom Mohr, ResponseLogix co-founder and President and CEO of Digital Air Strike (who hails from Canada.) “We identified that problem and said, ‘this is solvable.” The company’s SmartQuote product can help dealers generate a multi-vehicle quote, loaded with rich features, photos and information, with pricing and incentives — in 10 minutes. “It is an advanced technology feat to pull all that information in real-time and deliver that to the consumer,” says Mohr.
The social media and reputation management products will be called Social Logix and Reputation Logix, headed by Alexi Venneri (another Canadian).
Top dealers recognized
DealerRater unveiled the winners of its 2012 Dealer of the Year award program recognizing the top dealerships throughout the U.S. and Canada for customer satisfaction based on online reviews posted on DealerRater’s site.
The company’s highest award went to Beechmont Ford of Cincinnati, Ohio who won the overall 2012 Dealer of the Year.
Capital Ford Lincoln in Regina, Sask. won the first ever 2012 Canadian Dealer of the Year award. They received 142 reviews in 2011, with a DealerRater PowerScore of 4.78 — the highest score of all Canadian dealers.
Software tools
“We have a fundamentally different business model,” says Mark Allen, Vice President Sales, Marketing & Services with Quorum Dealer Management Systems. “We have very simple pricing, month-to-month contracts and a modern Windows-based system… We continue to innovate with our products.”
These innovations are rolled out to dealers, and it gets automatically downloaded and set up.
Quorum was showcasing a new product innovation that helps dealers easily customize what they see when they launch their DMS software by using widgets. “We built what we call Quidgets,” says Allen, adding that there are about 20 built so far. People within dealerships can customize their experience based on their roles within the organization.
Another new tool built into the software is a Communicator messaging function that enables dealers to send instant message texts to their customers. This lets them notify customer’s about work estimates on their car or when work is completed. The customer can reply and communicate directly back to the service department staff via their phones.
Service tools
Most exhibitors say they were happy with the traffic and interest generated at NADA show. “So far we have been very pleasantly encouraged,” says Rich Holland, Mobile Productivity Inc. (MPI) President. “For us it’s been a very prosperous show.”
Holland said Canada is an important market for his company. “It was our largest growth segment last year,” he says, adding the company finds more support for spending on service boosting technologies. “We have field personnel assigned to every province. Last year 18% of our growth was in the Canadian market.”
MPI provides dealerships with tools, processes and training to set up a comprehensive vehicle inspection program in service departments. Holland says the company’s tools help improve communication with customers about the recommended repair work on their vehicles. The software tools also provide visibility into the service department’s processes.
Alternative finance options
Another exhibitor, GM Financial/AmeriCredit took advantage of the boost in traffic to promote their new offerings.
In an interview, company officials said they are now quickly building up the leasing program for GM dealers across Canada. “We quickly engaged all the dealers to participate in the program,” says Howard Cobham, SVP, Dealer Services Canada, GM Financial / AmeriCredit. Once the programs were put in place, dealers were quick to embrace them, he says.
“We staffed up considerably. We had four representatives in the field across Canada and we’ve gone to 16,” says Cobham. With dealers out of leasing for a couple of years, it’s helpful to have a team assist with training on the lease proposition. “There’s been a lot of change at the dealer level and some of the people may not have ever done leasing.”
GM is also reaching out to customers to alert them that: “leasing is back.”
World’s fastest lift
Rotary Lift introduced its Shockwave lift that the company says is twice as fast as any other on the market with a 25 second rise and 19 second descent time. The goal is to get vehicles up and down more quickly, allowing greater technician productivity and higher shop profitability. The lift also has a laser spotting guide that automatically shoots a green laser line into the center of the service bay when a vehicle approaches, which helps speed up vehicle positioning.
“It’s been extremely successful,” says John Rylee, Rotary Lift’s director of marketing. “People were very shocked to see them side by side how fast the lift goes.” Rylee says the new product is getting lots of attention. “There’s nothing else out there like it.”
The lift is powered by a DC power unit and is battery operated with a built-in charger that runs on 110V current.
If you missed this year’s event, the NADA has created a virtual event you can access at: www.nadaconventionandexpo.org.
Next year’s NADA event will take place in Orlando, Fla., from Feb. 8-11, 2013.
