Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of NIADA with newly inducted Pres. Joe McCloskey

The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association (NIADA) has a new President. During the Association’s 75th Annual Convention and Expo, Joe McCloskey, Owner of McCloskey Motors, was named President, succeeding Louis Tedeschi. On today’s show, we’re pleased to welcome Joe McCloskey to discuss NIADA’s agenda as we wrap up the year and head into 2022, and we’ll also dive into a few challenges independent dealers are facing today.

We have a lot of plans, especially with our 75th-anniversary celebration says McCloskey. McCloskey is celebrating his 50th year in the automotive industry. He started out sweeping garage floors, then eventually started selling cars as a junior in high school in 1974. He knew after selling cars in high school, that is what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

In addition to pricing issues, vehicles are selling for more than the book value, and it’s getting harder for vehicles to get financed. Dealers are having to pay more per vehicle and have to stock fewer vehicles due to credit limits. McCloskey says they are also facing labor shortages. They’re seeing the compression of profits.

The net profits for both retail and subprime dealers are at an all-time high. McCloskey says there is a lot of uncertainty because he’s not sure what tomorrow might bring. NIADA dealers are having to adjust to higher reconditioning expenses. They do anticipate that this will continue through next year due to the inventory shortages.

The one thing about independent dealers, they all have different business models. McCloskey says NIADA wants to bring all those separate entities together under one umbrella and unify themselves. With 14,000 members McCloskey believes they have a great opportunity both on policy-making and legislative issues. They also have a few technology projects, they are looking to get finalized. NIADA has a 5-year strategic plan that they introduced in February 2020. McCloskey’s job is to make sure they are continuing with that strategy and executing on the promises that NIADA has made.

One of the biggest issues that concern McCloskey is government overreach. He believes with government overreach, they have unintended consequences on both independent dealers and the customers. NIADA is now forming alliances with other associations and organizations to make their voices louder and even stronger when it comes to government policies and legislative affairs.

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