Ontario Dealer Day ‘bigger and better than ever’
There was a lot for dealers to see at the third annual Ontario Dealer Day, held April 12 at the Paramount Conference and Event Venue in Woodbridge, Ont.AA
The day-long event, co-hosted by the Trillium Automobile Dealers Association (TADA) and Co-Auto Co-Operative, is Canada’s largest trade show for dealers.
Around 750 registered dealers toured the vast show floor packed with more than 75 exhibitors, who displayed their latest products, software and tools across virtually every department at the dealership.
“It’s a great place to look at new products, look at new strategies, businesses that I might not have much exposure to…it’s actually a great way for me to do some tire kicking so when I know I’m looking for things for my own business I’ve already made the connections and I know the people to contact,” said Susan Gubasta, President and CEO of Mississauga Toyota, who attended this year’s event.
While the event opened at 9 a.m., the morning was busy with Co-Auto and TADA annual general meetings, but by mid-day, the show floor became a hive of activity.
This year’s theme was spring training, which plays on the start of the baseball season, and there were fun giveaways such as Blue Jays tickets, prints and attire, said Tom Langton, President and CEO of Co-Auto.
Vendors focused on training to help dealers improve profit and customer service. Also new this year was an education forum for the F&I office on ethics and legal issues, which helped to bring in additional attendees, said Langton.
“This is our third dealer day and it’s bigger and better than ever,” said Langton.
“I think dealers are really marking it in their calendars that it’s a must-attend for them and they’re bringing more of their team members versus just the dealer principal coming. They see the value in bringing three, four or five other department managers so they can take some ideas back to the store,” Langton added.
It’s also not a lot of time spent away from the dealership, said Todd Bourgon, Executive Director of TADA. In a short afternoon, dealers can tour the vast show floor and spend time interacting with vendors and shopping for new products. Plus, the products dealers are looking at are available in Canada.
“The beauty of it here is that you don’t need to filter through what you get in Canada so I think it’s good Canadian content. It’s very healthy for the vendors in Canada and it’s healthy for the dealers as well,” said Bourgon.
In fact, there was a waiting list of exhibitors this year for the first time, said Bourgon.
It was the second year software provider DealerPILOT had a presence at the event, and Michael Stassen, Vice-President of Sales & Marketing for the company, said it was time well spent.
“It’s really important to be together supporting the industry with other vendors that are like-minded serving a very special type of customer.”
Said Bourgon, “There’s no other event like it in the space.”
Canadian auto dealer conducted live interviews on site with event coordinators, dealers and vendors. You can view videos, pictures and other highlights from the day on canadianautodealer.ca.
