In attending his second straight NIADA Convention, Adam Hosman felt the business tips he picked up in the multiple education courses more than paid for the days of closing his dealership and heading to Las Vegas.
“We’re a fairly small dealer, and we don’t always get sales during the week. We’re not somebody who sells a car every day,” said Adam Hosman of Motiv8d Motors in Lehi, Utah. “We don’t have another salesperson. But how I reframed it is, somebody might come in Monday through Thursday to buy a car, but I will for sure get something to help my business if I come here. I got something out of it and just that one thing in my mind would’ve paid for it.”
Hosman was one of the hundreds of dealers from across the nation who attended the 2024 NIADA Convention at the Wynn Las Vegas, which included more than 50 hours of education across five tracks – BHPH, retail, marketing, management and compliance.
The largest event for the used vehicle industry also featured countless networking opportunities and impactful general sessions, including the latest market update and an enthralling conversation with the Lone Survivor Marcus Luttrell. Dealers also had the opportunity to connect with 100s of vendors to find business solutions during the large expo and visit lenders during the finance fair.
The convention ended with a celebration during the NIADA Awards Ceremony, including the crowning of the newest National Quality Dealer, Donald Sullivan, Jr., of Fredericksburg, Va.
“It was a phenomenal opportunity to network and meet mentors,” said Sarah Bombliss of Family First Auto Sales in Clarksville, Tenn.
Brandon Benton of Mobile, Ala., was one of 233 first-time attendees, who connected with veteran dealers to pick up advice. First-timers came from as far as Brazil, India, Kazakhstan and Sweden.
“It was awesome. I will be back,” Benton said. “I met many interesting people and hooked up with a couple of lenders. There was a lot of good stuff in the education. We came here to meet lenders. We also learned about BHPH, which we are looking to branch into.”
Benton pointed out one of the final sessions he attended with NIADA 20 Group Senior Moderator Ben Goodman “Is Anyone on Bench.”
Umaize Savani of Ideal Cars in San Francisco, Calif., picked up marketing ideas along with technology tips to help move his dealership forward.
“One specific thing was looking at our demographics of customers and making sure we’re advertising to that market,” Savani said. “The Hispanic market is a large part of our customer base, and we only run about 10 percent of our ads to that group.”
Dealers can start looking ahead and making plans to join NIADA June 23-26, 2025, in Las Vegas at the Fontainebleau.
