McEleney: NADA Comes Through During Auto Retail's Brutal 2009

NADA chairman cites numerous challenges, successes

Orlando, Fla.—John McEleney had one heck of a year as NADA chairman. When he took over at the last convention New Orleans, he jokingly noted during his address at the opening general session in Orlando today, he “was six feet four and had a full head of hair!“ But most of McEleney’s speech was serious, emphasizing the association’s enormous effort to aid members in a year of economic collapse, the lowest rate of car sales since World War II, and the loss of more than 2,000 dealerships.

Eventually NADA was successful in educating the public, the media and the federal government about car dealers’ vital role in the auto industry and their immense contribution to their communities. Still, it was tough going.

One of the biggest challenges, McEleney said, was seeing the loss of multi-generation GM and Chrysler franchises. “A lifetime creation of capital was wiped out by the stroke of a pen,” he said. At the same time, he was “heartened” by the iron will of friends like dealer and NADA board member George Nahas, who, though losing two Saturn stores, said, “ If I’m going to anguish over this, it’s just going to make me a lesser person. You take like as it comes. You have to be able to adapt to change.”

Another huge challenge for McEleney was trying to focus the federal government on helping the most threatened areas of the industry. He praised the Presidential Task Force for being able to save GM and Chrysler by massive restructuring. But he added that it was tough to convince task force members that dealers are not an incremental automaker cost and surprised that they knew so little about auto retail. They “took a theoretical approach to the situation,” he said, “treating this multi-billion-dollar crisis much like an Ivy League MBA case study.”

The association also helped push through the tremendously successful “Cash for Clunkers” program and the “second chance” legislation to get GM and Chrysler to reinstate terminated dealerships, and came to the aid of earthquake-ruined Haiti, reaping dealer donations of more than 100 trucks within 72 hours.