The 7th Annual Conference of Automotive Remarketing (CAR 2003), produced by Bobit Publishing, will be held on Feb. 23-25, 2003 at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas. According to Bobit Publishing, the preliminary speaker lineup for the CAR 2003 conference includes 31 industry leaders who will participate in seminars covering all remarketing segments, including factory remarketers, fleet/lease companies, banks/financial institutions, auction management, daily rental companies, and franchised and independent dealers.

“In addition to our strong preliminary lineup, we are planning to announce more new speakers for CAR 2003 in the coming weeks, which promises to make this our best-ever conference,” said Ed Bobit, chairman and CEO of Bobit Publishing. “We are also planning a special auction sale to be held at a nearby Las Vegas auto auction, and we’re working out the details on that.”

For the 2003 show, Bobit Publishing announced an alliance with Used Car News to create a seminar track specifically designed to meet the remarketing needs of franchised and independent dealers. This will include sessions on how to strengthen a dealership’s used-vehicle department and a discussion of alternate forms of financing options available to franchised and independent dealers. One of the presenters at the dealer remarketing segment will be Tim Deese, president of Progressive Basics, one of the nation’s top trainers.

Among the keynoter speakers at CAR 2003 will be Mike Linn, executive director of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, and Allan Starling, president pro-tem of the National Automobile Dealers Association. “We also have several other surprise keynoters that we will be announcing shortly,” said Bobit.

The CAR 2003 preliminary lineup of speakers and presenters by remarketing segment include:

Major Factory Remarketers

Tom Cunningham, Ford

Keith Helfrich, DaimlerChrysler

Dan Kennedy, General Motors

Tom Kniivila, Volkswagen Credit/Audi Financial Services

Dave Langley, Honda Finance

Kent Pace, Toyota Financial Services

Top Industry Analysts

Tom Kontos, ADESA

Art Spinella, CNW Marketing

Raj Sundaram, ALG

Charlie Vogelheim, Kelley Blue Book

Tom Webb, Manheim

Fleet Leasing, Bank & Rental Company Remarketers

Darrin Aikin, Wheels

Todd August, Avis Rent A Car

Bill Cieslak, PHH Arval

Greg Dart, Enterprise

Bob Graham, ARI

Steve Houston, WFS Financial

Peter Klopchic, CitiCapital Fleet

Charlie Mullen, Ace Rent-A-Car

Chuck Nix, AmeriCredit

Steve Piccinati, Bank of America

John Rancourt, LeasePlan USA

Doug Richards, Triad Financial

Jay Fahrendorff, ABC Minneapolis, one of our moderators

Auction Industry Leadership

Dean Eisner, Manheim

Jim Hallett, Allete

Bob Rauschenberg, ABC

Vic Yancone, BSC

Industry Association Leadership

Jimmy Compton, president of NAAA

Mike Linn, executive director of NIADA

Allan Starling, NADA, President Pro-Tem

Dealer Trainer

Tim Deese, president of Progressive Basics

Jimmy Compton, president of the National Auto Auction Association (NAAA), and Ray Nichols, outgoing president of NAAA, have reviewed the plans earlier in the year to schedule CAR 2003 in Las Vegas and said they are 100 percent supportive.

In addition, the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance (IARA) will also hold its all-member meeting at CAR 2003 on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2003, said IARA President Dave Langley.

According to Bobit, prior attendees are already expressing plans to attend the upcoming CAR 2003 conference. Timothy Adams, assistant general manager for ADESA Dallas Auto Auction, who attended all of the seminars at the CAR 2002 conference, said the biggest benefit he gained from the conference was the contacts. “That’s a big reason we go, to try and build more relationships and meet more dealers,” Adams said. “I will go back next year.”

Roger Bohanon, general manager for Morton Auto Auction in Morton, IL, also attended CAR 2002 and agreed that the contacts he met at the conference were invaluable. Another past attendee, Mike Faulknor, president and owner of Faulknor & Son in South San Francisco, said of CAR 2002, “This was one of the better CAR conferences. The speakers were so good, the day went by so fast.”

Warren Schewitz, corporate development manager for OnLane Canada in Toronto, said, “The CAR 2002 conference was outstanding. We’ve been coming to the conference for the past three years and they keep getting better.”

Additional information on the upcoming CAR 2003 conference can be found at www.bobitexpos.com.