That’s a Wrap: Takeaways From NADA 2024

The camaraderie and partnership that comes with being at NADA were in full effect at this year’s show in Las Vegas.

The excitement about what’s to come was felt at the CDK booth, where hundreds of visitors stopped by to learn about new capabilities and solutions that provide more efficient and connected buying and selling experiences. Before the doors closed, Jason Swiech, CDK’s lead product marketer for F&I, shared his thoughts on the show and what made it so unique.

This is your 12th NADA Show with CDK. What felt different about this year?

Over the last two years, I think dealers are feeling more positive about their businesses. They’re also seeing a change in how they’re dealing with car buyers, and they want to open their minds to other processes. In the past, they may have tried to just shoehorn a digital solution into their operations but now they’re taking complete ownership of the modern retail process. That’s where I think the positivity is coming from. When they come into our world and into our booth, they want to learn and be able to make a change in their own futures.

Why do you think visiting the CDK booth was a priority for hundreds of dealers?

Dealers make sure to stop by our booth and I think we’re the most crucial stop for them. There are very, very few players in the market who can actually deliver what’s needed to be done in the front office overall. Like I mentioned, they want to learn. So, they may see other ideas on the show floor and then they challenge us with what they may have heard or seen. But in the end, they want one solution, and they want us to be at the forefront as well.

You heard a lot of valuable feedback from dealers. What are the next steps for you and your team?

One of the biggest things we get out of NADA is that after we show our initiatives, what’s on our road map, what’s available now — available pilot programs, whatever it is — we leave NADA with a lot of follow-ups. Our focus becomes reconnecting with the dealers we met in Las Vegas and starting to have much more in-depth conversations. Here, we may only get 15 minutes, or if we’re lucky an hour, and while that sparks interest, dealers want to see more. I already have trips planned based on conversations we had here — Florida, Texas — to show more of our solutions and get direct feedback.

That feedback is invaluable. We take everything we hear from dealers whether it’s here or in their stores and share them with our product teams so they can evaluate them and often implement changes.

Were there CDK solutions that clearly resonated with dealers?

When it comes to F&I specifically, we’re getting a lot of interest in e-contracting and e-signing to make for a more seamless workflow in F&I. I had a half dozen meetings about these specifically on the first day of NADA. And these conversations, and conversations about the whole front office not just F&I, are really positive. Dealers aren’t just hearing the term modern retail blasted at them; they’re grasping the need for that workflow now.

Watch "The F&I Office and Trust at the Dealership" session from CDK Live at NADA 2024