A Regional Body of Automobile Dealers in North-East Region Formed

With a view to collectively addressing the problems and issues facing automobile dealers at the local level, a regional association of automobile dealers in North-East region, namely, North-East Automobile Dealers Association (NEADA) was formed on October 16, 2011 in Guwahati at a meeting convened by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), which is the apex organisation of automobile dealers in the country. It was also decided to affiliate NEADA to FADA.

FADA has been rotating its meetings at various towns and cities to meet members of automobile dealer fraternity spread across the country and to identify & address the issues of concern to automobile dealers at the local & regional levels. This was the first ever meeting of automobile dealers, convened by FADA in North-East region consisting of 8 States, namely, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

In addition to local automobile dealers from Guwahati, Tinsukia, Shillong, Gangtok and Imphal; Nikunj Sanghi, President, FADA and FADA’s Past Presidents, viz. - K P Jhunjhunwala, Vinay Nevatia and Binod Agarwal were also present at the meeting.

Welcoming the participants, Vinay Nevatia, Past President, FADA explained the purpose of the meeting and briefly talked about FADA and its forthcoming events - the Auto Summit 2012 scheduled for 9th & 10th January 2012 during Auto Expo at New Delhi and the 3rd edition of Automotive Dealership Excellence Awards (ADEA 2011). He also mentioned about the proposed formation of a global organisation of automobile dealers, saying that FADA’s initiative to form the international body comprising automobile dealers associations of various countries would concretise soon.

Explaining the role and activities of FADA in detail, Nikunj Sanghi , President, FADA stressed the need for a common platform at which dealers could meet and express their views & grievances. He gave the examples of how dealers in Rajasthan, Delhi, Nagpur and Andhra Pradesh had benefited by taking up and resolving issues relating to motor vehicle taxation, registration of vehicles, permits, service tax, etc. at the local/State level with the help of FADA.

Briefing the participants on the 2-day programme of Auto Summit to be held at Hotel Le Meridien in New Delhi on 9th & 10th January 2012, Sanghi said that the Summit would deliberate on issues regarding succession planning, viability & profitability of automobile dealerships, new opportunities and adoption of best practices in auto retail. Two interactive sessions with vehicle manufacturers had been scheduled as a part of the programme, whereby automobile dealers would have opportunity to raise any issue of concern to them with the manufacturers.

Sanghi added that the highlight of Auto Summit would be the inaugural session, which would be addressed by Montek Singh Ahluwalia - Dy Chairman, Planning Commission; Anand Mahindra Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd; S Sandilya Chairman, Eicher Group and President, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM); and Stephen Wade, Chairman, National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) of USA. He requested automobile dealers in the North East to participate in the Summit in large numbers, as it would be a unique opportunity for participants to meet Marketing Heads and Managing Directors of several OEMs as well as their fellow dealers from within and outside India. The participants would also be given free passes to visit Auto Expo that is expected to be the biggest automobile exhibition in Asia.

Expressing his happiness at the formation of NEADA, Nikunj Sanghi exhorted automobile dealers in North East to organise themselves at the regional level and organise periodic meetings to discuss and resolve issues of common concern through concerted effort under the banner of NEADA. He assured that FADA would pitch in with its support, whenever required. He wanted NEADA to become a bridge between FADA and automobile dealers in North East so that FADA and members of automobile dealer fraternity in North East could exchange information & data on regular basis for resolution of problems and identification of best practices in retail automobile trade.

Automobile dealers from North-East present at the meeting requested I M Hazarika of Pibco Enterprise to be the Patron of NEADA. R K Goenka of Industrial & Farm Equipment was unanimously elected the first President of NEADA. Ujjal Goswami of T I Ford and Rahul Dev Sharma, Gargaya Toyota were elected Vice President and Hony Secretary, respectively. Several dealers also enrolled themselves as FADA members and evinced keen interest in attending the Auto Summit.

Nikunj Sanghi, President, FADA announced that I M Hazarika, R K Goenka and Rahul Dev Sharma were being inducted to FADA Council as Special Invitees.