Previous AGM

The previous Annual General Meeting of the Federation was held on 24th July 2010 at Hyderabad International Convention Centre, Hyderabad. The Annual Accounts and the Annual Report of the Council for the year 2009-10 were adopted at the AGM. The AGM also re-appointed M/s Bhatia & Bhatia, Chartered Accountants as Auditors for the year 2010-11 and constituted anew Council for the year 2010-11 by elections in terms of Articles 18 and 20 to 29 of Articles of Association.

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 -

▪	Bringing in uniformity in the provisions and rates of VAT on vehicles across States;
▪	Uniformity in registration procedures and taxes;
▪	Rationalisation of excise duty on motor vehicles;
▪	Delegation of registration of vehicles to Automobile Dealers and dispensing with the requirement of physically taking the vehicles to RTO's for inspection;
▪	Putting in place an effective Inspection & Certification Programme for in-use vehicles, including non-transport vehicles; and
▪	Provision for Automobile Dealerships with 3-S facility in Land Use Planning & Development in major cities, including rationalisation of conversion charges for conversion of use from industrial to commercial in Delhi.

 
FADA also participated in an interaction with Mr Arun Maira, Member, Planning Commission, organised by Cll, to give its inputs and suggestions from the perspective of auto retail on the Apprpach Paper to the 12th Five-Year Plan.

Major Initiatives

The council, headed by Mr Nikunj Sanghi, worked with zeal & zest and embarked upon a number of new initiatives. While core issues of concern to automobile dealers, such as, viability & profitability continued to be high on the Council's agenda and engaged much of the attention, other matters, like, international relations, CSR activities, manpower management & training and interaction with various stakeholders, which are important from the point of view of sustaining growth, were given impetus during the year.

Some of the new initiatives taken during the year are enumerated below.

(i)	Rajasthan Automobile Dealers Summit A mega Regional Convention of automobile dealers was organised jointly by Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) and Authorised Motor Vehicles Dealers Association (AMVDA) of Rajasthan on 22nd Nov'10 at Jaipur. This first ever Convention of Automobile Dealers in Rajasthan was a grand success in terms of participation, stature of speakers, quality of deliberations and its coverage in the media. The Convention served its purpose of sensitising the State Government authorities on various issues, including non-uniformity in taxes on motor vehicles across States, environment pollution, road safety, traffic management, infrastructure & basic amenities for road & highways users and the need for establishment of auto hubs/clusters. The Convention also went a long way in educating & equipping my fellow dealers to deal with a host of complex issues - be it succession planning, taxation matters, processes & procedures, productivity or profitability, which automobile dealer fraternity at large has to contend with in today's intense competitive environment. Needless to say, as the market grows and more players enter the arena, competition and complexities are likely to intensify. Eminent speakers at the Convention were: Mr Ashok Gehlot, Hon'ble Chief Minister; Mr Brij Kishore Sharma, Hon'ble Transport Minister; Mr Sunil Arora, Principal Secretary-Industries; and Mr Deepak Upreti, Transport Commissioner. Other distinguished speakers were: Mr Pramod Bhasin, Ms Puloma Dalai, Ms Saujanya Shetty, Mr S B Gupta and Mr M V S Prasad. The Regional Convention was very well organised with an overwhelming & active participation of automobile dealers from across the State. Council places on record its appreciation of the efforts put in by Mr C H Shah and other members of the Organising Committee of Rajasthan Automobile Dealers Association for successfully organising the Summit at Jaipur. Council is hopeful that members in the State would build on the fellow feelings and goodwill among automobile dealers generated by the Regional Convention.
(ii)	Seminar for 'Generation Next' The first training programme for the next generation of young dealers was held at Aamby Valley, Lonavala on 11th & 12th December 2010. The programme evoked overwhelming response with over 40 participants comprising dealers as well as their sons and daughters who are set to take the reins of their family dealerships, attending the programme. The programme had a 4-fold purpose - (i) To ensure a planned succession & proper transition in dealership management; (ii) to promote social bonding and camaraderie among younger generation of automobile dealers; (iii) to educate uninitiated automobile dealers on FADA, its role and activities; and (iv) to prepare the young crop of automobile dealers for the organizational responsibilities in FADA.
(iii)	2nd Year's Automotive Dealership Excellence Awards (ADEA 2010) jointly with Auto Monitor Carrying forward the initiative launched in 2009, FADA jointly with Auto Monitor organised the second edition of Automotive Dealership Excellence Awards (ADEA 2010), to recognise and reward automobile dealers excelling in various areas of dealership management and community service. The awards presentation ceremony for winners in ADEA 2010 was held on 26th February 2011 at Hotel Leela Kempinski, Mumbai. As a part of the awards presentation function, a panel discussion on the subject "Addressing the Growth Aspirations of Automobile Dealers in India", was organised by CNBC TV18. The panel discussion moderated by Mr Suresh Venkat, a leading media personality, was telecast by CNBC. The panelists included: Mr Dilip Chenoy, Mr Kailash Gupta, Mr Nikunj Sanghi, Mr Arun Malhotra, Mr Ravi Pisharody and Mr Deepak Mokashi. Members of automobile dealer fraternity and representatives of industry, allied businesses and media were present in large numbers. The winners in various categories were presented with awards by the distinguished guests from industry and allied businesses. Total number of applications for the second edition of awards witnessed a 61% increase at 537 from across 21 States compared to 334 applications from across 14 States in the year 2009.
(iv)	Workshop on Strategic HR FADA organised a Workshop on 'Strategic HR' on 26th February 2011 at Hotel Leela Kempinski, Mumbai at which a 3-member team of Pune-based Transforma Management Partners Pvt Ltd addressed and interacted with the participants. The day-long interaction witnessed engrossing discussion culminating in a message that while hard infrastructure and processes are important, the manpower and work environment is the most important factor in sustaining growth. It was an enriching experience for over 40 participants at the workshop.
(v)	Vehicle Safety Inspection Programme - a joint SIAM-FADA Initiative A pilot project on Voluntary Inspection and Certification Programme for over 3-year old in-use passenger vehicles, initiated by SIAM and FADA was set in motion during the year. 17 dealerships across the country were identified to set up Vehicle Safety Inspection & Certification Centres under a pilot. Of these, 6 dealerships have installed the machines and are ready to start operations. While two private insurance companies have joined the programme by giving incentives in insurance premium in respect of vehicles inspected and certified by these centres, efforts are afoot to bring public sector insurance companies on board.
(vi)	J D Power Dealer Satisfaction Study 2010 India Dealer Satisfaction with Automotive Manufacturers Study undertaken by the J D Power Asia Pacific in association with Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) was fielded between September 2010 and January 2011. The study measured dealers' satisfaction with their principals on a number of parameters. The study was released on March 29, 2011. Mr Shantanu Majumdar, Sr Manager, J D Power Asia Pacific made a presentation on their findings during FADA's council meeting on April 19, 2011 at New Delhi. The findings were based on the response of 545 dealer principals or dealership general managers located in more than 170 cities throughout India.
(vii)	Formation of Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC) Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC) with SIAM, ACMA and FADA as Founder Members, has been formed with a view to create and enhance talent pool for automotive sector. ASDC had been 12 registered as a Society. This is the first skill development council to be set up in India to upgrade skills and increase employment in the automobile industry.
(viii)	FADA Helpline It has been observed that automobile dealers across India have been finding it difficult to come to grips with the intricacies and implications of service tax. To help its members deal with the complexities of service tax law and procedures, FADA has engaged Mr Ashok Batra, FCA based in Delhi as Service Tax Consultant on retainership. He will, on reference made by FADA, guide and give legal opinion on various issues relating to service tax raised by FADA members. While Mr Batra will, essentially, give legal position and clarification, supported by case law, on various service tax issues raised by FADA members, those wanting to engage him as counsel to fight their cases in litigation will have to pay separately as per terms that may be mutually agreed to. Mr Batra has also agreed to guide and give legal opinion to the FADA members on Delhi VAT in which he is hands-on. FADA proposes to engage a number of legal experts in different areas to help its members cope with the intricacies and complexities of various laws applicable to automobile dealerships.

Membership

FADA's membership strength as at the end of Council Meeting held on 25th June 2011 at Chennai stood as under:

Founder Members	4
Association Members	19
	23

Other Members i.e. Individual Members, Life Members, Supporting Members

Region	Individual Members	Life Members	Supporting Members	Total
East	183	64	1	248
North	313	78	10	401
South	257	81	9	347
West	320	81	18	419
Foreign	1	-	-	1
Total	1074	304	38	1416

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

FADA Secretariat

(i)	Head Office 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.
(ii)	Setting Up Zonal Offices To strengthen FADA's activities, zonal offices are proposed to be set up in major cities, if the local members show interest. These zonal offices will organise meetings, address local issues & problems, issue clarifications, organise seminars & training programmes and carry out other activities at the State and regional levels for the benefit of automobile dealers.