A three-member FADA group comprising Mr. Mohan Himatsingka, its President, Mr. Prem Bagga, Council member, and Mr. Gulshan Ahuja, Secretary-General, participated in the Automotive Dealer Day, a European B2B event, organised by Quintegia, a professional consultancy company, at Verona, Italy, during May 20-22.
The objective of the visit was to gauge the automotive scenario and to know the developments in the auto sector, particularly in auto retail business, in the rest of the world. Another objective was to build and strengthen relations with auto retail organizations in other countries for regular exchange of information and learning from their experiences and practices.
The Automotive Dealer Day, encompassing seven business sessions and a motivational session with concurrent exhibition, B2B workshops & meetings and manufacturer-dealer meetings, attracted over 4,300 attendees from the US, Brazil, India, the UK, Italy and other parts of Europe. An International Dinner, Automotive Dealer Night and V-Party were part of the programme to promote networking among the participants.
The auto retail organizations represented at the event were the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) of the US, FENABRAVE, the National Federation of Automotive Vehicles Distribution, Brazil, CECRA, the European Council for Motor Trades and Repairs, Belgium, and FADA of India.
Over 90 speakers addressed and interacted with the participants at the business sessions and the workshops.
Around 100 exhibitors including automakers, component & accessory manufacturers, oil companies, logistics & transport operators, web-designing & online marketing solution providers, DMS vendors, in-vehicle communication systems providers and other IT solutions & service providers showcased their products & services.
The highlight of the event was the announcement and presentation of the Dealer Satisfaction Awards for 2014 (DealerStat 2014), followed by a panel discussion on the measures taken by the winning OEMs in ensuring dealer satisfaction. The Most Desired Brand in Italy, from dealerships’ point of view, went to Volkswagen, Top Passenger Vehicle Brand in DSS to Land Rover, and the Top LCV Brand in DSS to Renault.
The presentations made by the Parvi Group in Brazil on the Brazilian automotive scenario and the group’s business activities evoked keen interest. The size of the light motor vehicle market in Brazil is 3.6 million, the fourth in the world, which is expected to grow to 4.2 million by 2018.
The Parvi Group, the third largest group of automobile dealerships, has a network of 58 automobile dealerships dealing in 13 brands. With 78 dealership outlets located in 23 cities in 13 States across Brazil, the group sells over 96,000 vehicles per annum. The average margin on new vehicle sales is around three per cent and that on used vehicle sales is eight per cent. The other business activities of the group include financing, insurance broking, bus and car fleet rental and public bus transportation.