The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) hosted the third edition of its Auto Retail Conclave on the theme of ‘Thriving Through Disruption’. Participants included Indian and global automaking companies, industry stalwarts as well as FADA members from across the nation.
The session’s distinguished Chief Guest, Union Minister, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister of Heavy Industries, inaugurated the conclave along with Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, as Guest of Honour. Also present on the occasion were Kenichi Ayukawa, SIAM President, and Sunjay Kapur, incoming ACMA President.
Dr. Pandey acknowledged the significant contribution made by the dealers’ community to the auto industry and economy and said: “The auto industry should play a vital role in making India a manufacturing hub under the visionary leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji. The Indian government has been making efforts to promote India as a global business-friendly destination. We are promoting Clean, Green & Atmanirbhar Bharat campaigns in India and revitalizing the green mobility movement.”
Additionally, he urged the automobile industry to “continue taking efforts to make India an Atmanirbhar manufacturing hub not only for India but globally and to contribute to the success of the government’s Automotive Mission Plan 2026”.
Vinkesh Gulati, President, Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA), said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has had a marked impact on automobile dealers. Many dealerships are family-owned small, mid-sized businesses and partnership firms. The resilient industry has survived the pandemic by managing finances prudently and restructuring the overall dealer business. However, the pandemic and the exit of several prominent auto OEMS has hurt the dealers extensively. While the government has done a lot to promote the viability of the sector, we request it to consider protecting the auto dealers’ rights who have been impacted by the unexpected exit of MNCs with whom they had signed up as long-term partners. Giving industry status will create a sense of equilibrium in this industry.
The auto retail sector employs over 45 lakh people. It contributes Rs. 95,000 crores in direct and indirect taxes and other levies to the Central and State Exchequers. The sector has a minimum set-up cost of INR 1,50,000 crores; 60,000 acres of own land and an investment of INR 2,25,000 crores. In fact the Auto Retail Sector is the largest Sector in the country and every State’s economy. The enormous size and potential of this segment of retail sector can be gauged from the fact that auto retail is 3 times the size of the rest of the organized retail.
Industry status will give us better financing options in terms of priority lending from banks, financing from top lenders, private equity investments, easier access to domestic and global funds and more tax benefits. This will boost the confidence of the sector immensely and will result in the scaling up of infrastructure bringing in new investments to make the sector foster growth.”
The conclave witnessed a series of panel discussions on optimization, reinforcement and agility of the dealerships. The topics for the power panel discussions were ‘Strengthening our Relationship’ & ‘Future of Auto Retail’.
An awards ceremony was also held to honour the winners of FADA’s Dealer Satisfaction Study – 2021. The survey was conducted by FADA in collaboration with PremonAsia, a consumer-insight driven consulting & advisory firm based in Singapore. The survey data was spread across sectors & segments on a pan India basis, covering a vast geography and OEM brands.