Welcome back to the latest episode of The Future of Automotive on CBT News, where we put recent automotive and mobility news into the context of the broader themes impacting the industry.
I’m Steve Greenfield from Automotive Ventures, and I’m glad that you could join us this week.
Well, we just wrapped up NADA, and it was quite a week. Despite a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm that threatened to shut down New Orleans, the industry prevailed and had a successful convention despite the weather. But 2025 will definitely be a year to remember.
NADA is always my favorite week of the year because I get to catch up with folks in the industry with whom I’ve had a 25 year relationship but I only ever really see this one time per year.
Luckily, I got into the city before the snow started Tuesday morning, having an opportunity to present during the AFSA conference.
NADA really kicked off for me early Friday morning as I moderated the AutoTech Investments conference. We filled the room with 250 attendees and curated some incredible, relevant content on stage that covered venture capital investing and acquisitions and then capped things off with a pitch contest for five early-stage companies.
AutoTech Investments has become a great venue to network and learn about current trends in AutoTech investing, as well as see early-stage companies pitch onstage.
I then had a chance to join Charlie Vogelheim for a recording of his podcast at the CUDL/Origence stage.
Friday evening we hosted a reception for the investors in our funds as well as the entrepreneurs that we’ve invested in. It was standing-room only and we had 200 people in attendance. It’s always great to catch up with our investors, and many of them had a chance to meet our entrepreneurs for the first time.
I kicked off Saturday with a presentation to 200 auto dealers in from Brazil – helping them understand the future of automotive retail and some of the big thematic changes the industry’s undergoing. Brazil is a market that has not implemented tariffs against the Chinese automakers, so we’re seeing brands like BYD take market share very aggressively down there.
We then hosted a reception for early-stage non-exhibiting startups. We had over 40 companies attend, and it was exciting to hear each of them do their one-minute pitch. We then had some networking time for them to meet each other, and some investors who were in attendance. This will definitely turn into a signature Automotive Ventures event that we do at every NADA.
From there it was back to the show floor, and I had a chance to present on the Tekion stage — doing a brief presentation on the current state of the automotive industry. I then had the honor of introducing Tekion’s Founder and CEO Jay Vijayan for his keynote presentation.
Finally, I headed over the CBT News booth to catch up with our very own Jim Fitzpatrick for a conversation about what we were observing at NADA and some of the trends that are top of mind for dealers.
NADA is always a bit of a blur, but this year, despite the snowstorm, I was very glad to have an opportunity to catch up with a lot of industry friends and meet dozens of new early stage startups.
As I reflect back on my 25th NADA, I greatly appreciate having 25 years in this industry, getting to know hundreds of amazing industry folks, and now having the opportunity to help early-stage entrepreneurs realize their goals and dreams.
Next year NADA is back in Las Vegas and I can’t wait to see everyone again then.
So, with that, let’s transition to Our Companies to Watch.
Every week we highlight interesting companies in the automotive technology space to keep an eye on. If you read my weekly Intel Report, we showcase a company to watch, and take the opportunity here on this segment each week to share that company with you.
Today, our new company to watch is SalesLogs.
SalesLogs allows a dealership to upgrade from operating off spreadsheets to software to help your dealership grow.
The company provides a KPI dashboard to allow you to see the bigger picture, with powerful dashboard analytics at a group and rooftop level.
SalesLogs provides dealers with leaderboards, which help drive success by visualizing individual performance, displayed in a prime position within your dealership.
And the company provides their “DataGrid” product to do everything that your spreadsheet can’t.
If you’d like to learn more about SalesLogs you can check them out at www.SalesLogs.com
So that’s it for this week’s Future of Automotive segment.
If you’re an AutoTech entrepreneur working on a solution that helps car dealerships, we want to hear from you. We are actively investing out of our DealerFund.
Don’t forget to check out my first book, “The Future of Automotive Retail,” and my brand new book, “The Future of Mobility”, both of which are now available on Amazon.com.
Thanks (as always) for your ongoing support and for tuning into CBT News for this week’s Future of Automotive segment. We’ll see you next week!