Needless to mention, the Summit received a tremendous support from the Government, the industry and other allied businesses, such as banks, finance companies, insurance companies, software service providers, component & garage equipment manufacturers, who not only agreed to address and share their vision and thoughts with the participants but also came up with their support in the form of sponsorship of this momentous event. This goes to show that all players in automotive business chain realise the need for forging partnerships in the interest of mutual benefit and sustainable growth and development.

The Summit served its purpose by providing a common platform to automobile dealers, manufacturers, Government and other businesses associated with automotive industry to spell out their plans, expectations, suggestions and concerns and to identify the areas of cooperation, which, everyone felt, was imperative in tackling the challenges facing all of us today and emerging on the horizon. There could not have been a better occasion for the members of retail automobile trade, in particular, to meet their fellow dealers from various parts of the country and abroad and to learn from each other by exchanging their ideas and experiences. The idea of the Summit is not about talking business alone, it is also a social occasion for the members of retail automobile fraternity, when they join together with their families and strengthen their age-old ties and bonding.

The Summit also afforded an opportunity for FADA and its office bearers to apprise the automobile dealers and other stakeholders of various initiatives taken by FADA in equipping the automobile dealers to stand up to the challenges and threats arising from the changing paradigm of automotive business. I am happy to note that the recent initiatives of FADA to start – (i) Certificate/Diploma Courses, in association with other reputed institutes, for training Sales Executives, Service Supervisors and Spare Parts Supervisors to cater to the manpower needs of automobile dealerships in these areas; and (ii) Helpline Service for FADA members to make them aware of various provisions, practices and procedures governing the operations of automobile dealerships, came in for a lot of praise from the manufacturers and the Government. This handsome praise of FADA’s efforts, should, however, not make us complacent. I do realise that we need to do a lot more to make FADA more meaningful to its members.

It cannot be overemphasised that the Summit, apart from scanning the current and emerging automotive scenario from the Indian and global perspectives, came up with a number of new ideas on how automobile dealerships can sustain their viability and growth. The message that came out loud and clear was that with the competition likely to intensify further, the sales margins would continue to be under pressure. Dealerships will have to tap other allied business opportunities, such as, insurance, finance, used car business, after-sales service, spare parts and accessory sales. A lesson that emerged from the deliberations was that the dealerships would have to create their distinct service brand, customise their products & services and adopt IT enabled solutions in a big way in order to stay on a growth path. The quality and the skill of manpower will be another key determinant of the success or failure of the automobile dealerships.

This monumental endeavour culminated in a grand success, thanks to the painstaking efforts put in by our Convention Chairman, Mr Vinay Nevatia and our Convention Director – Mr Rakesh Jain. All arrangements and organisational aspects were meticulously attended to and everything worked out in a clock like precision. I am thankful to Mr Nevatia, Mr Jain, my colleagues in the Council, State Chairmen and Past Presidents of FADA, in particular, Mr Bharat Sanghvi, Mr Kailash Gupta, Mr Ajit Chordia, Mr Deshnidhi Kasliwal and Mr Jayendra Kachalia for their all-out support in organising the Auto Summit successfully.

I express my profound thanks and gratitude to the Hon’ble Union Minister of Civil Aviation – Mr Praful Patel, who took time off his busy scheduled to be in our midst for the inauguration of the Summit and giving us the benefit of his address. I also owe my thanks and gratitude to industry leaders and other guest speakers & panelists, namely, Mr Madhur Bajaj, Mr Ravi Kant, Mr Abhay Firodia, Mr Venu Srinivasan, Mr Baba Kalyani, Dr Pawan Goenka, Mr Rajeev Chaba, Mr A P Arya, Mr Masahiro Takedagawa, Mr G Seshadri, Mr Arvind Saxena, Mr Chris Bonsi, Mr Kamesh Goyal, Mr Antony Jacab, Mr Ajay Dwivedi, Mr S K Mutneja, Mr R L Ravichandran, Mr K Saito, Mr Rajiv Dube, Mr V Sivaramakrishnan, Mr Ankush Aroa, Mr Deepak Mokashi, Mr K S Grihapathy, Mr Atul Gupta, Mr Sachin Mathur, Mr N K Ratan, Mr Nalin Mehta, Mr Hormazd Sorabjee and Mr Yogendra Pratap, who shared their rich experiences and wisdom with the participants. My special thanks to Mr John Thomas of NADA; Mr Suren Abeyagoonasekera, Chairman, Ceylon Motor Traders Association; Mr Nguyen Huu Phan,Director of Int’l Cooperation Department, Vietnam Register; and other foreign guests, who gave us an insight into the automotive scenario in their countries.

I shall be failing in my duty if I do not acknowledge the supported extended by the sponsors of Auto Summit. My grateful thanks to ICICI Bank, Maruti Udyog, Piaggio Vehicles, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, TVS Motor, Force Motors, General Motors India, National Insurance, New India Assurance, Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, Oriental Insurance, Tata AIG Insurance, HDFC Bank, Magma Leasing, Chicago Pneumatic, Mico Bosch, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Subros and Overdrive/Auto Monitor without whose support it would not have been possible to mount the event in such a grand scale.

My thanks are also due to FADA Secretariat who worked tirelessly without bothering for office hours and holidays to ensure the smooth conduct of the Summit.

The Auto Summit has provided us a lot of food for thought. It was a great learning, exhilarating experience for all of us. Hopefully, innovative thoughts and ideas left behind by the Summit will translate into action straightaway.

With best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

Binod Agarwal