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The 82nd annual NADA convention, returning to San Francisco Feb. fr 9 for the first time in five years, offers dealers a chance to get new ideas and get concerns off their chests.
"There's no greater place to hold our convention," says NADA's incoming chairman James A. Willingham, a Californian. "The atmosphere brings out open and frank discussions that participants can really benefit from.
"Spouses love to go to San Francisco, too, which makes the whole convention experience one to enjoy and benefit from."
Mr. Willingham's counterpart at American International Automobile Dealers Association, AIADA, new Chairman Joseph D. O'Brien, Jr., of Bloomington/Normal, IL, notes he is taking office Feb. 8 during the NADA convention in a city that symbolizes free trade as one of the nation's busiest ports.
"I handle six Asian brands, plus Dodge and VW," says Mr. O'Brien, "and will urge the nearly 10,000 members of AIADA to stress the need to maintain unrestricted trade among nations as a priority on their return from San Francisco.
"The formation of DaimlerChrysler underscores the importance of globalization to the future of the auto industry. One outgrowth of holding NADA and AIADA national meetings together has been the exchange of ideas between domestic and import brands."
The man chiefly responsible for creating DaimlerChrysler, Daimler-Benz Chairman and CEO Jergen E. Schrempp,...