SEE MORE COVERAGE OF CADA SUMMIT 2016
Harry Mertin, CADA’s 75th Chairman, kicked off the fourth annual CADA Summit with a spirited address reminding delegates why the event was created — to help them better prepare for the dealership network of the future.
One of the biggest changes to that network involves the role of the customers in the automotive retail sector.
“Here we are, gathered here today with some of the greatest automotive retailers in Canada,” says Mertin. “Our theme this year is the changing customer experience.”
Mertin explained how the speakers for this year’s event were selected to help dealers get a sense of how customer expectations are changing, and how dealers can better adapt.
Delegates were then treated to an exclusive video address from William Ford Jr. recorded exclusively for the CADA Summit at the company’s headquarters in Dearborn, Mich.
“I want to thank CADA and its chairman, Harry Mertin, for inviting me to be part of this exclusive dealer event,” says Ford, in his address to the dealers in the room.
The CADA Summit team visited Ford earlier in January, and he provided insightful answers to a range of questions that the CADA Summit will be addressing — like challenges to the auto industry and innovations in mobility and connectivity that are impacting the customer experience.
Ford shared his vision for the future on transportation and mobility, and the role that the auto industry plays in shaping it.
He says his great-great grandfather Henry Ford helped bring mobility to the masses with the introduction of the Ford Model T. Almost a century later, Ford says cars themselves are becoming communication devices that are changing the way consumers interact with them.
Ford also talks about a series of revolutions that have changed the industry, including powertrains, the electrification of vehicles and the way people access them through rideshare programs and other models of ownership.
Another big challenge Ford addressed — and one he brought up years ago in a TED Talk — is gridlock in the world’s cities.
“All of these things are big, big challenges. If we get them right they can be wonderful for our business. If we get it wrong, we are probably going to diminish as a company,” says Ford.
There are many new players coming into the automotive space working who are making a big impact or working on solutions, many of which we don’t know about, says Ford. Automakers will need to get used to forming unexpected partnerships if they want to stay in the game, he says.
“The most important thing for us as a company is to remain really open- minded and really curious because we don’t know which way this whole world is going to develop,” says Ford.
What Ford is sure of is that dealers will play an important role in all of this.
“The dealers will evolve as will we. The dealers though will still be the focal point for the customer, but the way the dealers will access their customers will continue to evolve just as the way we will be talking to our customers will continue to evolve…the dealers who get it right are going to have a much richer customer experience and a much higher customer loyalty.”
The 2016 CADA Summit is organized by the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, and is supported by an exclusive sponsorship from TD Auto Finance.
