As was the case with many organizations during since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Automotive Sales Council (ASC) moved from live membership conferences to virtual meetings for 2020. Following the introduction of COVID vaccine, the ASC now returns to the twice-a-year membership conferences that have been a mainstay of the association for more than 60 years.

2021 Automotive Sales Council President Rick Mochulsky opened the business meeting with reports by himself and other officers. Mochulsky reported that membership remains completely full and the association is financially healthy.

With a total of 112 people attending the event, held May 2-5 in Florida, the meetings and activities of past years returned in full force as presentations were given by a diverse group of industry leaders. 

On Monday, Nathan Shipley, executive director/industry analyst for NPD Group reviewed “Aftermarket trends throughout the pandemic and what to expect in 2021.”

Following that, Brian Rowland, VP/GM Aftermarket at Walmart, described the retail giant’s recent growth and current aftermarket footprint, plus future aftermarket opportunities. Liz Whalen of the Whalen Search Group, Monday evening reception sponsor, ended the day’s meeting with a short presentation about the Whalen Group’s capabilities and how the members could benefit. Florida weather provided a perfect opportunity for member networking during the evening reception and dinner, attended by 112. 

Tuesday morning’s meeting opened with, the McKinsey Automotive Retail and Aftermarket team of Inga Maurer and Nicolaas Kramer presenting “Value Creation in Digital Sales for the Automotive Aftermarket,”

Matt Carroll, CEO of Pratt Miller, then changed gears a bit moving from digital and statistical research into the vehicular technical research and development history and capabilities of Pratt Miller, showing a myriad of future vehicular component opportunities.

Rex Stephens & Randy Roy of Marketing Solutions Group, sponsor of Tuesday afternoon activities, closed out the Tuesday meeting with a short review of their firm’s capabilities. The hospitable Florida weather again provided for another networking reception, sponsored by Babcox Media, held on the lawn prior to dinner. 

Wednesday’s meeting continued with an exciting and varied agenda. Leading off was Byron Frantz, SVP for Genuine Parts Co. (GPC), with a complete description and update regarding GPC and a future view of the NAPA aftermarket organization. 

Gary Patterson, president of Shelby American, then provided a review of the history of the Shelby racing success, explaining how it developed into the current offering from Shelby American as well as future plans that ASC members may wish to be involved with.

Being so close to the Kennedy Space Center, provided and opportunity to hear and learn about past USA Space flight activity and future plans. Russell Romanella, NASA retired International Space Station & Spacecraft Processing Director, provide an amazing 90-minute, firsthand review of the USA exploration of Space and plans for the future.

In recognition and appreciation of the excellent presentations given during the meeting, a donation is being made by the ASC for each presenter, to the University of the Aftermarket Foundation. 

The membership that attended in person, as well as those who viewed via Zoom, were excited to once again be interfacing one-on-one with other members and guest presenters to learn more about the various segments of the aftermarket industry and how technological developments can help the industry and the individual companies grow stronger.