Highlights from Annual Meeting & Luncheon

Highlights from Annual Meeting & Luncheon

In his report on the state of the automobile business to WANADAs membership, outgoing chairman Chip Lindsay recalled President Obama saying during his visit to The Washington Auto Show earlier this year that auto sales were a bright spot in our economy and a veritable beacon of strength. Lindsay of Lindsay Automotive noted that 2012 sales are up 13 percent, and are expected to reach 14.5 million new vehicles, a far cry, he noted, from the 28 year industry low of 10.5 million in 2009.

Our Auto Show continues to expand in size and industry prominence, Lindsay said, referencing, among other things, the presidents historic tour of the show last January and the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers certifying Washington as a first tier show.

Chairman Lindsay noted, too, that WANADAs Automobile Dealer Education Institute has thrived this year, with its Auto Technician Development Program at Montgomery College flush with dealership apprentice enrollment and the program renewing its NATEF Certification, the industry gold standard of technician training.

On the public policy front, WANADA and its sister dealer organizations need to be concerned about government regulation of business, he said. With the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats having systematically ramped up workplace and consumer regulations at the federal level with massive laws like ObamaCare and Finance Reform, Lindsay said that dealers and other small business employers have had to scramble to understand and comply with the new requirements. In what he described as the trend toward overregulation, Lindsay referred to a trickle-down effect from the federal level to the states in the regulation of business and a proportionate rise in frivolous, but menacing, plaintiffs suits against dealers in consumer protection.

On the bright side of government relations, Chairman Lindsay praised motor vehicle agency regulators in DC, Maryland and Virginia, who he said were working cooperatively with dealers from the Motor Vehicle Dealer Board in Richmond to the Motor Vehicle Administration in Maryland. He thanked John Kuo, Maryland MVA administrator, who was on hand at the meeting, for his open door to dealers and the agencys tangible efforts to clarify motor vehicle laws. He also praised the good job Virginias Motor Vehicle Dealer Board did for dealers and their customers. Lindsay said WANADA was also embarking on a bold initiative with DC DMV that he predicted would substantially enhance tag and title services there, for which he acknowledged appreciatively the commitment and counsel the city councilmen David Catania and Jack Evans, both of whom were at the lunch.

In the community relations arena, Lindsay recognized Tamara Darvish for her leadership of the Bobby Mitchell Hall of Fame Golf Classic F.B.O. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He said that this year marked the 22nd of the Classic and the 12th in which Ms. Darvish, with WANADAs support, has made it a major Washington area dealer annual cause.