Southern Region Auto Convention 2009

FADA has been regularly organising Auto Summits at New Delhi coinciding with the Auto Expo biennially. The Summits have been a grand success in terms of the quality of deliberations and participation.

As most of the issues affecting automobile dealers need to be resolved at the State level, FADA has also started organizing regional conventions at the State level every alternate year commencing from the year 2005. Two such regional conventions had already been held at Mumbai and Kolkata in the years 2005 and 2007, respectively.

Encouraged by the grand success of the Regional Conventions at Mumbai and Kolkata, FADA held its 3rd Regional Auto Convention at Hyderabad International Convention Centre on 18th July 2009. The theme of the Southern Region Auto Convention was: Auto Retail - Meeting Challenges. The theme assumed added significance and importance in the context of current global economic downturn that has also cast its shadow on Indian economy including automobile market.

Mr S Vijaya Rama Raju, Hon'ble Transport Minister of Andhra Pradesh Government inaugurated the Regional Convention and delivered the inaugural address. Other key guest speakers at the Regional Convention included: Mr J Raymond Peter, Transport Commissioner, Govt of Andhra Pradesh; Mr Rajive Saharia, ED - Mktg, Ashok Leyland; Mr Raghu Venkatnarayan, ED, Ernst & Young; Mr Arun Malhotra, Sr Vice President, Mahindra & Mahindra; Mr P Nanda Kumaran, Chief General Manager, SBI; Mr Anupam Misra, CEO, Concorde Motors - India; and Mr Pankaj Patel, CEO, Carazoo.com.

The Convention offered a common platform for various stakeholders - Government, auto industry, retail trade and allied businesses as well as experts to find ways and means of meeting current and emerging challenges for sustainable growth & development of the auto business as a whole.

The Convention was timed with an Auto Show organised by Andhra Pradesh Motor Vehicle Dealers Association during 17th to 19th July 2009.

Industry Relations

FADA continued to work in partnership with industry and all other stakeholders for sustainable growth and development of automotive business as a whole. Dialogue with SIAM, CII, ASSOCHAM and FICCI on host of issues including sales tax on warranty parts, gray areas in service tax, dealer viability and absence of provision for automobile dealerships with 3-S facility in the land use planning of major cities, was carried on.

Interaction with the Government

FADA continued to have a regular interaction with senior officials of Government at the Centre and States to sensitise them on the following issues in particular.

Representations to the Government Authorities

FADA made a number of representations at the State and Central levels on various issues affecting auto retail. FADA also submitted its Pre-Budget Memorandum to Union Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Heavy Industries, FICCI and ASSOCHAM.

In addition to the meetings and interaction with Transport Authorities in various States, FADA submitted its suggestions on issues relating to motor vehicle taxes & registration procedures, as also on other matters affecting Motor Vehicles Act/Central Motor Vehicle Rules.

International Relations

Participation of FADA Delegation at 2009 NADA Convention & Expo

FADA and National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) of USA have been working closely and the relations between the two national associations of automobile dealers have deepened over the years through exchange of information and visits.

An 11-member strong FADA delegation led by Mr S P Shah, President participated at the 92nd NADA Convention & Expo during 24th to 27th January 2009 at New Orleans. Other members of FADA, who comprised the delegation were: Mr Nikunj Sanghi, Vice President; Mr Sundeep Bafna, Hony Secretary; Mr Kailash Gupta, Past President; Mr Prem Bagga, Council Member; Dr Hemchandra Sagar & Mr C S Harish, Sagar Automobiles, Bangalore; Mr Naveen Sarawgi, Bimal Auto, Bangalore; Mr Samar Bhasin, Pratham Motors, Bangalore; Mr Mohan Himatsingka, Council Member; Mr Vishal Chordia, Unique Automobiles, Kolhapur; and Mr Gulshan Ahuja, Secretary General, FADA.

NADA's 2009 convention opened in the morning on 24 Jan'09 at Convention Centre, New Orleans in a difficult period for the auto industry (and US economy in general) with the traditional seat-belt-unbuckling ceremony-officiated by NADA Chairman Annette Sykora-admitting dealers to the exhibit floor. The 92nd NADA Convention & Expo hosted around 15,000 attendees.

The programme of Convention comprised three general sessions including an inaugural session and an International Round Table. Besides, as many as 45 recurring workshops (around 150 educational sessions) on various topics of interest to auto retail and industry were scheduled over a period of 3½ days for the participants to choose from. In addition, the Convention offered half-day super workshops on "Lifeline to Profit$" on two days.

The Expo had more than 500 companies showcasing new profitable ideas, resources, products and technology seeking to improve the profitability of dealerships. This included how to make dealerships go greener to save money, energy - and the planet. Among the major automobile manufacturers who participated at the Expo were: Chrysler, GM Corporation, Toyota and Volkswagen.

The Convention also provided an opportunity to automobile dealers to network with the manufacturers' executives with 23 franchise meetings scheduled during the 4-day period. It was also an opportunity for the participants to network with their fellow dealers in the US and other countries of the world. There was a strong international presence at the Convention with delegations from 32 countries, including UK, France, Italy, Mexico, Peru and India, participating. There were sizable delegations from Italy, Russia and India -Italia delegation comprising 60 members. An International Round Table was held on 26th January at which 200 members from across the world participated.

Indian Connection

The Convention was special to FADA and India in the sense that a workshop on Indian Auto Industry formed part of the programme. The workshop repeated for 3 days had speakers in Mr Ashvin Chotai, MD, Intelligence Automotive Asia, UK; Mr S P Shah; and Mr Nikunj Sanghi, who made presentations and interacted with the participants. The workshop evoked a lot of interest among the participants. Outcome that emerged from the workshop was that the Indian automotive industry had come of age especially in the area of design, development and manufacturing of small cars and two-wheelers. It also emerged loud and clear that the Asia Pacific region (minus Japan) would account for a major part of the growth of automotive industry in the next 6-7 years with China and India emerging as the chief contributors. With Nano slated to make its debut in 2009, Indian auto industry would record better growth numbers in terms of volumes than rest of the world.

International Round Table - Global Auto Industry, Now More Than Ever

The car industry is increasingly global and interdependent, analyst Mr Ashvin Chotai of Intelligence Automotive Asia reminded dealers at the convention's International Roundtable. Though "Government intervention is aimed at preserving jobs in (individual) countries, it's a global industry. We need capacity reduction in developed markets to make room for expansion in high-growth, low-cost markets."

Meanwhile, the Asian auto markets are shifting, said Mr Chotai. "China has been propping up global sales since 2002, but today (it's) looking very, very fragile." Chery, FAW, Geely, and BYD Automotive (which concentrates on electric and hybrid vehicles) are the only automakers there that produced more than 250,000 units last year. Most Chinese makers have been slow to develop proprietary technology, and most vehicle production comes from joint ventures.

But in India, foreign auto makers don't need local joint ventures or partners. India's Tata Motors, in fact, has already established a toehold in the United States with Jaguar and Land Rover, and Mahindra plans to bring a pickup truck to the United States by year-end.

In Japan, said MrChotai, automakers are suffering from a strong yen, which is putting intense pressure on production and forcing plants to be moved overseas.

Unfortunately for the international car business, "profits from green cars are not going to save our industry, because that will take a long, long time." Other challenges: the expanding role of public transportation and consumers' decreasing inclination to own cars, which has already made headway in Japan.

FADA Journal

Monthly publication "FADA Journal" continued to grow in terms of quality, content, popularity and circulation. The contents of Journal, in particular, evoked appreciation from automobile dealers and others connected with automotive business, for their substance and usefulness.

Media Coverage

FADA's activities and concerns were widely covered by the national & regional media from time to time.

Membership

FADA's membership strength as at the end of Council Meeting held on 17th Jul'09 at Hyderabad stood at 1357.

These members, most of whom owning multiple dealerships represent more than 70% of the retail automobile trade in the country.

Details of various categories of members on FADA's Rolls:

Founder Members	:	4
Association Members	:	16
		20

Other Members i.e. Individual Members, Life Members, Supporting Members
Region	Individual Members	Life Members	Supporting Members	Total
East	184	49	2	235
North	301	64	8	373
South	253	66	9	328
West	316	66	18	400
Foreign	1	-	-	1
Total	1055	245	37	1337

FADA Secretariat

Secretariat of FADA continued to function from its own office premises located at 805, Surya Kiran, 19, K G Marg, New Delhi - 110 001. Efforts are being made to further strengthen the Secretariat with a view to providing more services of substance to the members in keeping with the growing membership base and their ever-increasing expectations as well as changing dynamics of retail automobile trade.