Sergio Marchionne
Following the success of the inaugural 2013 CADA Summit, this premier event is returning for a second time in 2014. During an exclusive interview with Patrice Maltais, event coordinator and Industry Relations Officer for the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), Canadian auto dealer got a sneak peek about what we can expect this time around.
“We wanted to keep the overall theme of it,” says Maltais. “It went very well in 2013 and there were a lot of people saying how would we be able to top it.” He notes that a key message of the CADA Summit is to provide insight for dealers about what they can expect to see happening in the industry in the short and mid-term future. As a result, many of the core elements that defined the 2013 event will be returning, including economic, OEM and retail panel discussions, Q&A with the audience and a focus on keeping it fairly exclusive, taking aim at the key issues that matter to dealer principals and general managers.
Given that the inaugural event featured some star keynote speakers such as Steven Rattner and Bob Lutz, the 2014 CADA Summit was planned to include more industry heavy hitters as part of its agenda from day one.
Ed Welburn
Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat and Chrysler Group, will be a highlight of the 2014 event. “We are very proud to have him speak,” says Maltais “because he really is a rock star of the industry.” Maltais also says that the CADA Summit team is delighted to announce that Ed Welburn, vice-president of global design at General Motors has been added to the roster of keynote speakers. Welburn, who occupies the same role as industry legends Harley Earl and William “Bill” Mitchell once did, oversees GM’s entire design program and has been responsible for the creation of cars such as the reborn Chevrolet Camaro, Cadillac CTS and seventh generation Chevrolet Corvette.
“He’s a very engaging individual,” says Maltais “and we wanted him to share his insight about the direction of automotive design, since it could have a major impact at the retail level.”
Other key speakers at the 2014 CADA Summit include Robert Kurnick, president of the Penske Automotive Group and Glenn Mercer, consultant and lead researcher of the NADA/CADA facilities study.
Maltais says Kurnick was chosen not only because Penske is one of the top publicly traded dealer groups in the U.S, but also because it has a lot of experience and a successful track record in the area of dealer consolidation, a trend which has been occurring in the U.S. for many years and more recently, has been gathering steam in Canada.
Glenn Mercer
Glenn Mercer will be focusing on one of the key points raised during the NADA/CADA facilities report — the dealership of the future. Mercer will also join this year’s CADA Laureates, Al MacPhee, Joe Medina and Sean O’Regan in a panel discussion about the subject, what we can expect to see and how the changing nature of auto retailing and facilities will impact dealer operations in the future.
Maltais says the discussion panels and Q&A sessions are an important part of the Summit agenda, because they generate good back and forth discussion and provide different points of view, invaluable at any event.
A significant change for the 2014 CADA Summit has been the venue — it will take place at the Hyatt Regency Toronto. “We wanted a location that was a little bit closer to the Canadian International AutoShow,” says Maltais. “The Hyatt has been recently renovated and it is a popular venue for events such as the Toronto International Film Festival, so it should serve our needs very well.”
He also says given that the inaugural Summit proved very popular and February isn’t that far away, attendees are urged to register as early as they can.
More details can be found at: cadasummit.ca
