The annual mega event opens in Las Vegas (but it hasn't happened since 2021) Nada Show which is organized by the powerful National Automobile Dealers Association which brings together 16 thousand companies.
The aim is to bring together the vast world of US dealers with car manufacturers, service providers, consultants, the financial and insurance sector, equipment manufacturers and work tool specialists.
To give an idea of the importance of the Nada Show it is enough to underline the presence of over 500 exhibitors on an area of 65 thousand square meters, and with a calendar of over 90 workshops on the opening days (1-4 February).
Nada, a statement recalls, is the voice of North American new car dealers and represents their interests by fighting on their behalf before all branches of the federal government, manufacturers, the media and the public.
It is no coincidence that the slogan Driving the Future was chosen for the 2024 edition, given that the entire sector must deal with the evolution of the market (there are those who speak of involution) and in general with the mobility revolution.
Melissa Wolpert, senior vice president of conventions and exhibitions National Automobile Dealers Association, speaking with WardsAuto emphasized "that we are once again appreciating the in-person contacts that only the Nada Show fosters. Our Show is the place to learn what it's again, what's happening in the industry, where are we going in the future."
The first Nada meeting, held in 1917 in Chicago, was attended by 138 dealers.
Today the Las Vegas event - after suspension during the Covid period and a virtual edition in 2021 - is preparing to bring together thousands of dealers and other automotive retail stakeholders.
Not only to adopt strategies that make medium and long-term activities profitable, once electrification has taken place, but to resolve an anomaly reported by WardsAuto itself.
"Traders gathering in Las Vegas for the 2024 Nada Show have a big problem to solve: They're sitting on a mountain of cash after three years of the best profits they've ever had," the report reads.
For Erin Kerrigan, founder and CEO of Kerrigan Advisors of Irvine, California, "the industry has an overabundance of liquidity, and much of that money will be invested in buying more dealerships. High interest rates typically discourage high levels of purchases." sales, but the average dealer has so much cash that he doesn't have to borrow much to make acquisitions."
And since the six large publicly traded industry groups have "outperformed the S&P 500 index during 2023 - says Kerrigan - the latest trend is for the large dealer groups to acquire other dealers".
A practice Kerrigan calls 'elephant hunting'.
And which could soon change the map of dealers in the United States, also changing the bargaining power of these big names with the car industry itself.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA