Filed under: Car Buying, Government/Legal
Automotive News is reporting a serious backlash from car dealers regarding the North American Dealers Association’s choice of keynote speaker for the annual industry confab in January: former first lady and secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.
AN spoke to one dealer that not only cancelled his trip to the NADA conference, but revoked his dealership’s membership outright over the association with Clinton. In defense of its choice, NADA Chairman David Westcott argued that the dealer advocate wanted “somebody well-known, with a name – a draw.”
Still, NADA members aren’t pleased with the choice, with dealers delivering a barrage of angry messages since Clinton’s selection, according to Automotive News. Some of the angry messages relate to the former secretary of state’s politics, no doubt, but some might just be upset about the expense of such a big-name speaker – AN cited media reports that Clinton commands about $200,000 per speech.
NADA isn’t backing down, though, with its president, Peter Welch, delivering a level-headed response to AN’s inquiry about the choice: “Our job is to provide our members with exposure to all facets of business and government that can affect their dealerships. Like her or not, Senator Clinton is perhaps the most prominent woman of modern times.”
NADA angers some by choosing Hillary Clinton as convention keynote speaker originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 29 Jul 2013 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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In 2010, the Federal Trade Commission received 1,339,265 complaints. According to the National Automobile Dealer’s Association, less than one percent of those complaints were related to new or used auto sales. That relatively low number (compared to the 250,854 people who complained of identity theft) has NADA upset over the government’s decision to pursue the creation of an automotive lending consumer advocacy agency.
The National Automobile Dealers Association has joined the ranks of those opposed to upping Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards to 60 mpg by 2025. The dealer group says that with fuel prices still low, consumers are more interested in horsepower and style than they are super-efficient vehicles. That means that if the federal government starts mandating ever more efficient vehicles that are significantly costlier to manufacture, dealers are likely to see sales falter as automakers have to elevate MSRPs to keep from losing their shirts. That’s the fear of NADA chairman Ed Tonkin and his constituents. Tonkin should know – he himself owns a mutli-brand dealership in Portland.
