Dealer convention beneficial

Last week Autofile travelled to the Gold Coast for the 2018 Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA) National Dealer Convention and Expo. 

The two-day program is designed to equip dealers with the tools and knowledge they require in order to operate during a time of technological disruption. 

While AADA represents new vehicle dealers in Australia, Matthew Wales, dealer principal at Andrew Simms, makes the case that the AADA convention is also beneficial for New Zealand dealers. 

“I think it’s well worth coming, it’s three hours across the Tasman, so it's only a couple of days,” said Wales.

“One of the beauties for us is, as well as learning new information and hearing people talk, we have a number of relationships with people in Australia, so I’ve been able to catch up with them. I can sit down person-to-person and put plans in place.”

Wales has attended the annual convention, on and off, for around six or seven years now. 

“There are probably two things that we get out of it, firstly, there are some good speakers here, some are better than others. It’s not like a NADA (National Automobile Dealers Association) convention but AADA get a number of good speakers from overseas,” said Wales.

“Last year, in particular, there were some really good speakers, particularly from Facebook and Google, people we wouldn’t ordinarily get to listen to in New Zealand.”

“You’re able to pick up ideas, information, and industry best practice that might be happening in Australia and New Zealand.”

AADA 2018 also demonstrates how New Zealand’s auto industry is performing compared with Australia’s. 

“In some areas, we [New Zealand] might be a bit more advanced and in some areas, we might be a bit behind, so it gives us an opportunity to listen to what Australia is doing,” says Wales. 

“We’ve always tried a few things differently after we’ve been to AADA or we’ve picked up a few things that have made improvements to our business.”

Mitsubishi New Zealand also see the benefit of attending the convention. 

“Mitsubishi New Zealand actually run a dealer trip over here. There are five or six Mitsubishi dealers over here who are funded or partially funded by Mitsubishi so that they can experience it and take in the information,” said Wales. 

However, it’s rare to see other Kiwi dealers says Wales. 

“I’ve bumped into one or two other dealers who have come over independently, so there's not a huge New Zealand contingent. You probably bump into more New Zealand dealers at NADA than you do here.”