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Letter to the Editor
Friday February 13
NADA Chairman Says Next Two Months Are Critical to the Future of Auto Industry
With 2009 expected to be one of the toughest years yet for auto retailing, the incoming chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association issued a call-to-action in late January, urging dealers to make their voices heard in the debate over how to return the industry to economic viability and how new emission standards should be implemented."The nation's new car dealers have already made strides in communicating the importance of the franchise network, the need for federal bridge loans and the necessity of stable credit markets, but the work must continue," said 2009 NADA Chairman John McEleney and Iowa dealer. "The next two months are critical to the future of our industry as we know it—the future of GM and Chrysler, availability of credit and the return of stability to our economy."
McEleney said some pundits characterized dealers as a drain on the books of automakers and suggested it was time to do away with the franchise system.
"We had to inform people about the model of our business, he said. "It's our money we invest in buildings and staff and training, not the manufacturers. It's our investments that are on the line to get their products distributed to buyers."
With much attention being paid to the industry, it is incumbent upon dealers to inform the public about auto retailing's impact on local, state and national economies. Sales taxes collected at auto dealerships nationwide total in the billions of dollars each year. And auto sales make up nearly twenty percent of all retail spending in the U.S.
McEleney urged the new Obama administration to carefully study a single national fuel-economy standard, in place of a patchwork of state regulations that he predicted may only further endanger the industry.
Noting that the auto industry is cyclical, dealers can succeed if they focus on things they can control, McEleney said.
"Our job is to protect and strengthen our dealerships so that as the cycle turns upward, we are in a position to thrive," McEleney said.
A lifelong resident of Clinton, Iowa, McEleney joined the family car business right after college. His two dealerships sell Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Cadillac, Toyota, and Hyundai brand vehicles. His father, Warren McEleney, was NADA president in 1971.
NADA, founded in 1917 and based in McLean, Va., represents about 19,700 new car and truck dealers holding more than 40,000 separate franchises, both domestic and international.
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