Auto Summit Shows the Way Forward Pradip R. Kamdar, President Dear friends, It gives me a sense of satisfaction and delight that the 5th Auto Summit held by FADA in association with SIAM on 14th & 15th January 2008 at New Delhi went off very well and was a stupendous success in terms of participation, stature of speakers and quality of deliberations, thanks to the support extended by you all, the Government, the automobile manufacturers, the allied businesses and the media. The two-day convention of automobile dealers witnessed engrossing deliberations. The participants, I am sure, must have had an educating and enriching experience. We had an impressive array of speakers at the Summit. To my mind, we could not have asked for more. The Summit provided not only an insight into the current and emerging automotive market as well as attendant challenges, but also showed us the way forward if we have to survive and retain edge in this highly competitive market. There is no gainsaying that the Summit has become an important platform for all stakeholders in automotive business chain to mull the challenges and issues in their entirety and find ways and means of ensuring sustainable growth encompassing all players in the value chain. What is more, it served as an occasion for all automobile dealers from across the country to meet each other and share their experiences. It was not business alone but also a social occasion. I feel that the Summit achieved its objectives and was a fulfilling experience for all of us in auto retail. While attempting to analyse the outcome of Summit, one thing that comes out loud and clear is that the Indian auto market will stay on growth track in the short and long runs, driven by (i) healthy GDP growth resulting in increased pace of economic & industrial activity, increasing disposable incomes, rising aspirations of people and growing mobility needs; (ii) current low level of penetration in India compared to other developing & developed countries; (iii) improvement and development of road infrastructure; (iv) explosion in connectivity and communication. At the same time, there are challenges galore for sustaining the growth, in the form of shortage of manpower, inadequate road infrastructure & parking facilities, traffic congestion leading to the environment and safety issues, high cost of dealership operations - resulting from expanding product portfolio, inventory, manpower and interest costs and escalating real estate prices particularly within the cities, absence of provision of automobile dealerships with 3-S facility in the land use planning of major cities and shrinking margins in the highly competitive market. However, there are new business opportunities emerging. Keeping the customer and the employee engaged is the way to go, as pointed out by Dr Pawan Goenka. Wide spectrum of discussion spanning over two days covered various issues of concern to auto retail, including the shortage of trained manpower. A suggestion was made that auto retail, being non-glamorous business when it comes to attracting people for employment, should consider hiring "right candidates" and invest in their training rather than going for "best out of the lot" candidates. I feel that this suggestion is worth considering. Another suggestion that used vehicle sales activity is a big business opportunity for auto retail, needs to be taken up by my fellow dealers in all earnestness. The deliberations at the Summit threw up a number of innovative ideas, which, I am sure, will help improve the viability of automobile dealerships to a significant extent. The Auto Summit 2008 was mounted on a grand scale, thanks to the support extended by the industry and the allied businesses as sponsors. I am deeply indebted to ICICI Bank, Magma Shrachi Finance Ltd, Maruti Suzuki India, New India Assurance, Reliance Capital, Tata Capital, Ashok Leyland, General Motors India, Honda Siel Cars India, ICICI Lombard, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Castrol India, HDFC Bank, Hyundai Motor India, Indian Oil Corporation, Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Co., Tata AIG General Insurance Co., EI Dupont India, Sundaram Finance, Dainik Bhaskar Group and SIAM, who pitched in with their support as sponsors and partners at the Summit. I am also grateful to our distinguished speakers at the Summit, namely, Dr Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State for Industry, Government of India; Mr Ravi Kant, President, SIAM & MD, Tata Motors; Mr R Seshasayee, Immediate Past President, CII and MD, Ashok Leyland; Dr Pawan Goenka, Vice President, SIAM & President, M&M (Automotive Sector); Mr R C Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India; Mr Madhur Bajaj, Vice Chairman, Bajaj Auto; Mr V Vaidyanathan, Executive Director, ICICI Bank; Mr Albert Gallegos, NADA (USA); Dr Wilfried Aulbur, MD, Daimler Chrysler India; Mr Joerg Mueller, President & MD, Volkswagen India; Mr Karsten Bogun, MD, Skoda Auto India; Mr Rajesh Jejurikar, MD, Mahindra Renault; Mr Ankush Arora, VP, General Motors India; Mr Ajay Bhatt, Dainik Bhaskar; Mr Mukesh Bhandari, CMD, Electrotherm India; Mr Ravi Bhatia, Maruti Suzuki India; Mr Marc CABEZA, GNFA, France; Mr Craig Cather, President & CEO, CSM Worldwide; Mr Sanjay Cham ria, VC & MD, Magma Shrachi Finance; Mr Adil Jal Darukhanawala, Times Internet; Mr Rajiv Dube, President (PCBU), Tata Motors; Mr Anil Dua, Sr VP, Hero Honda Motors Ltd; Mr Kieran Godwin, Inchcape; Mr H S Goindi, TVS Motor Co; Mr Atul Gupta, VP, Suzuki Motorcycle India; Mr Ramesh Iyer, MD, M&M Financial Services; Mr Manish Jar, Idea7 Automotive; Mr Pawan Jain, CMD, Safexpress; Mr Rakesh Kalra, MD, Mahindra International; Mr R S Kalsi, MSIL; Mr Austin Ligon, Co-Founder & ex-CEO, CarMax; Mr Ravi Narayanan, ICICI Bank; Mr Ravi Pisharody, VP (CVBU), Tata Motors; Mr A Ramasubramanian, CEO, CV Unit, Eicher Motors; Mr N K Rattan, HMSI; Prof G Raghuram, IIM-A; Mr Vinay Sanghi, CEO, Automartindia; Mr Arvind Saxena, Sr VP, Hyundai Motor India; Mr Jnaneshwar Sen, Sr GM, Honda Siel Cars India; Mr Hormazd Sorabjee, Automotive Journalist; and Mr K V.Srinivasan, Dy CEO, Reliance Capital, who took time off from their busy schedule to be with us at the Summit to share their wisdom and experiences. I convey my sincere appreciation of the relentless sincere efforts especially put in by Mr Rakesh Jain, Convention Chairman, who almost single-handedly managed to put the 5th Auto Summit in place. I would also like to put on record the efforts of Mr Gulshan Ahuja, Secretary General and his entire team for leaving no stone unturned to make this event a reality. My profound thanks are also due to our past presidents and my colleagues in FADA Council, especially Mr Bharat Sanghvi, Mr Vinay Nevatia, Mr Ramesh Suri, Mr K P Jhunjhunwala, Mr Kailash Gupta, Mr Ajit Chordia, Mr Deshnidhi Kasliwal, Mr Jayendra Kachalia, Mr Binod Agarwal, Mr Nikunj Sanghi; Mr Prem Bagga; Mr Sundeep Bafna, Mr Rajesh Sanei, Mr Sharath Vijayaraghavan and Mr S P Shah, who extended their unstinted support. Last and not the least, I acknowledge with thanks the support of members of automobile dealer fraternity from across the country for their participation in a big way. I am happy to note that the Auto Summit 2008 was able to draw over 700 participants, which is reflective of the fact that the Summit has come to be regarded as a major, meaningful forum for all stakeholders in automotive business. The follow-up of issues and findings crystallised at the Summit is the next logical course of action for us. With best wishes, Yours sincerely, Pradip R Kamdar