Last week, the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) announced that the 2014 CADA Summit had officially sold out. In order to discover what has helped drive record registration numbers for the event, Canadian auto dealer chatted with CADA Industry Relations Officer and CADA Summit coordinator Patrice Maltais.
“Last year, the CADA Summit was a brand-new event,” says Maltais, “so we were venturing into the unknown.” Nevertheless, given the positive response from attendees last year and the announcement of keynote speakers for the 2014 event such as Sergio Marchionne, Ed Welburn and Robert Kurnick Jr., attendance registration this year has significantly surpassed that for the inaugural CADA Summit.
“We opened registration back in October and we’ve seen a lot of people returning back to the CADA Summit for a second time,” says Maltais. In fact, Maltais notes that response has been such that by mid-January there was a very good indication that the 2014 event would indeed sell out.
Further heightening the anticipation for what is expected to be one of the major industry events of the year, concerns the recent announcement of the newly merged Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. As a result, having Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne deliver a keynote address at the 2014 CADA Summit arguably couldn’t have been better timed.
Maltais says that setting a date for the CADA Summit (February 12) that preludes the official opening of the annual Canadian International AutoShow (CIAS) in Toronto benefits both events. “It helps build prominence for the CADA Summit and the CIAS,” he says.
Maltais says he and his team have noted how the NADA/J.D. Power Automotive Forum and the New York International Auto Show (which occur back-to-back each April) have both grown in stature over the last few years and how such a “teaming up” results in an almost unprecedented industry gathering of the best and brightest in one place at one time.
Maltais says that a key message the CADA Summit aims to deliver is a chance for attendees to reflect on the year behind but also to look forward to the future. “Our industry is cyclical in nature,” he says. “We go through the good times and the bad. But the one thing that remains constant is the urge and the need to catch that next big wave.”
And with a focus on the auto industry of the future from an economic, manufacturing and retail perspective, the 2014 CADA Summits aims to provide attendees with the chance to do just that.
For more information visit: cadasummit.ca
