Why is the Nada Convention important for UK dealers?

For the last 15 years Motor Trader has joined ASE’s annual delegation to the US for the Nada Dealer Convention, the biggest gathering of car retailers in the world.

The scale is immense with over 500 exhibitor stands, 60 workshop sessions and 80 speakers covering best practice across every imaginable area of dealership operations.

Whilst much of the event is aimed at the domestic market, there is no shortage of best practice ideas to be gleaned by overseas visitors and traditionally the UK is one of the best represented markets at the event. Indeed, ASE can be credited for many hundreds of dealers successfully implementing ideas, gathered at the event,  which have boosted their bottom lines.

A prime example is the Paisley-based Phoenix Motor Company. Every year it offers places to its entire workforce and invites candidates to present a compelling argument for attendance to the management team. At the event they attend different workshops and present ideas back to the group, they are also tasked with visiting local non-automotive retailers and presenting their experiences. All of this helps form the basis for the much of group’s annual training, with best practice ideas feeding through to day to day operations.

Leading this year’s group, who averaged less than four years automotive experience, was managing director Russell Smith, a long standing Nada champion.

“I was very proud of our young team. They really grasped what they had travelled for, leaving with a wider knowledge of the industry and with an enthusiasm level that makes me genuinely believe they will uphold our great tradition of near perfect staff retention after Nada attendance. Couple that to the desire to enhance their careers to management level I believe the investment from Phoenix was well worth it.”

Enough said.