Canadian auto dealer Editor Todd Phillips, (left) and Publisher Niel Hiscox (right) meet with Don Durst, Senior Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Subaru Canada Inc. at the Canadian auto dealer offices.
CADA Summit attendees can expect a lively debate when the three OEM leaders take the stage for the manufacturing panel at the second annual CADA Summit held next month in Toronto.
The three OEM leader panelists met Tuesday at the Canadian auto dealer offices with the CADA Summit planning team to discuss their session. Canadian auto dealer interviewed each of the three leaders after their meeting to get their impressions.
Jerry Chenkin, President and CEO, Honda Canada Inc. says the CADA Summit presents a great learning opportunity.
Jerry Chenkin, President and CEO, Honda Canada Inc. says the CADA Summit presents a great learning opportunity for dealers. “From the dealers’ point of view, I think this is a great chance to have a look into what the future of the car business could be,” says Chenkin. “I have been in the industry now for close to 40 years, and there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t learn something new.”
Chenkin says the three panelists are all passionate about the auto industry, and it will be worthwhile attending. “I think it’s bound to be a very interesting session. We are really looking forward to it,” he says.
SUBARU DEALERS POSITIVE
“I’m very excited to represent Subaru on this panel,” said Don Durst, Senior Vice-President, sales and marketing, Subaru Canada Inc. “We have a great group of people with a lot of divergent feelings,” says Durst. “But I think it will be an excellent conference and I encourage all the dealers to attend.”
He says he received positive feedback from Subaru dealers when it was announced he would be on the panel. “It’s a great chance to get together with dealers,” says Durst. “We are so proud of our dealers, and the accomplishments they’ve had, and the double digit growth over the past five years. It’s been wonderful.”
Canadian auto dealer Editor Todd Phillips, Rick Gauthier, CADA President and CEO, and Tim Reuss, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Canada chat about the CADA Summit.
For his part, Tim Reuss, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Canada has the unique position of being both an OEM and a major dealer, since Mercedes runs some of its own corporate dealerships in Canada.
“The CADA Summit gives me a very unique experience, in the sense that I can share my views not just as an OEM but also as a large dealer,” says Reuss. “I’m very much looking forward to it.”
Reuss says the focus for dealers and OEMs always needs to be on the customer. “We need to change the way we think of our industry. It’s no longer a manufacturer or dealer. We all have a role to play. It’s no longer our customer or your customer. I think we have to change that paradigm,” says Reuss.
CADA Summit committee members say the meeting went very well.“It was a very lively exchange,” says Niel Hiscox, Publisher of Canadian auto dealer and the moderator of the panel session. “We have three panelists who speak to the changes in our industry with great passion. I think that will come through in the session.”
Dealers won’t want to miss it, he says. “The changes we spoke about really dealt with the retail side of the business. It’s clear there is a lot of discussion inside the OEM offices about the future of the car dealership,” says Hiscox.
“I think we will have a great panel,” says Patrice Maltais, the Industry Relations Officer for the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) and coordinator for the CADA Summit. “There was some good chemistry and exchanges in the room. They don’t agree on all points so it will lead to some good discussion.”
The CADA Summit will be held February 12, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency in Toronto and will feature keynote speakers such as Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler Group and Fiat S.p.A., Ed Welburn, Vice-President of Global Design at General Motors, Robert Kurnick, Jr., President of Penske Corporation and Penske Automotive Group, and a host of other top-notch speakers, most notably the most recent class of CADA Laureates.
Visit: cadasummit.ca to register.
