Dear Friends,
Namaste!

It gives me immense pleasure in writing to you and thanking for bestowing your trust and confidence in me by having me as your 36th President. I assure you that it will be my endeavour to strengthen FADA further & to take it to the next level as has been done by all my predecessors.

Talking about my predecessors, I wholeheartedly thank our Immediate Past President Mr. Vinkesh Gulati, for the mid night oil he has burnt to make FADA a formidable force. Vinkesh, in his tenure has done many firsts and is aptly called the ‘Start-up Man’ by all of us, like initiating the 2W vertical, GenX vertical, Women in FADA vertical and also not to forget the ground work for Auto Dealers Protection Act as well as Model Dealer Agreement.

FADA’s 58th Annual General Meeting was held in my hometown Raipur on 24th August’22. The event which saw jam packed audience was graced by none other than the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Mr. Bhupesh Baghel. Transport Minister Mr. Mohammad Akbar was also present as our Guest of Honour.

Along with me, our Vice President Mr. C S Vigneshwar, Secretary Mr. Sai Giridhar and Treasurer Mr. Amar Jatin Sheth will leave no stone unturned for the betterment of our trade and Dealer brothers.

For this, I look upon all our State Chairperson to quickly complete the process of appointing Regional Directors (including one 2-wheeler and Women Director) representing each and every district of their State to ensure that FADA is able to expand its reach both category wise and geographically across the country, thus truly making your Federation, One Nation, One Association!

This will not only help in taking FADA initiatives to the furthest corner of the country but make auto retail community interact with each other promoting collaboration and inclusive growth of all, but for this, our teams must be in place at the earliest.

New verticals started in FADA like the 2W vertical: with the aim to address segment related issues; Women in FADA vertical led by Ms Garima Mishra which recently held its 1st physical meeting in Raipur, with an aim to promote women entrepreneurs in auto retail business and bring them to mainstream FADA activities; Used Car committee: to formulate a policy for developing FADA’s used car platform with regards to branding / pricing both for vehicles & spare care in dealer’s inventory; and financing options for pre-owned vehicle sale; GenX vertical: to promote and encourage our next generation in joining Auto Trade and FADA Academy curriculum will be taken up in due earnestness to provide astute direction to all the verticals.

I am happy to share that after lot of follow-ups with MoRTH, draft rules for regularisation for sale & registration of pre-owned vehicle have been notified by the central ministry. Also, the final notification for online application & renewal of Trade certificate with validity of 5 years has been notified by MoRTH which will come into force from November 1, 2022. Those interested may download both the notifications from the knowledge centre of FADA website.

Friends, in the recently concluded & hugely successful, 4th Auto Retail Conclave at ITC Maurya, New Delhi we launched the Model Dealer Agreement (MDA) by the hands of President SIAM, Mr Vinod Aggarwal, President ACMA, Mr Sunjay Kapoor & Mr Arvind Kapil, Country Head Retail Assets, HDFC Bank & distributed copies to all OEM representatives present at the Conclave.

MDA seeks to establish equity and balance in the contractual relationship between the OEMs and Dealers. In drafting the MDA, we have considered international best practices, referred to dealership contracts in other countries and studied the Indian legal landscape closely. The provisions of the MDA reflect this harmony. Through this MDA, we have attempted to address some of the key issues that Dealers face in India such as lack of protection against sudden OEM exits, lack of clear and mandatory repurchase obligations on the OEMs, lack of clarity in indemnity provisions, among many others.

A strong and conscious attempt to create a sense of balance between Dealers and OEMs through equitable contractual provisions have been attempted. We believe that with increased opportunities for consultation, deliberations and clarity with respect to obligations under the Agreement would be in best of interest of both parties, and would ultimately lead to an alignment of incentives and help create more successful OEM-Dealer relationships, going forward.

We have now written to all the OEMs and have shared copy of the MDA. We have also requested them for a meeting to deliberate on the same so that going forward, OEMs incorporate the clauses of MDA in their Dealer Agreements.

On Auto Dealers Protection Act, I am happy to inform that soon after taking over as President, I met with Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State at PMO & Joint Secretary at PMO to sensitise them about the need of such an act in our country. In our pursuit to get the Act passed, we have now met more then 50+ MPs of different parties. While Crores of Rupees go down the drain for all of us when an Auto OEM makes sudden announcement of leaving the country overnight, it also impacts our employees, and their family life as they lose jobs. Apart from us, the customers also are at the losing end as they end up penalizing themselves for having made one of the worst decisions of their lives. Our crusade for getting this Act see the light of the day will continue in all earnest. In this I request my Dealer community to arrange meetings with their local MPs / MLAs across parties to sensitize them about the need for this act. Any help required by way of documents etc. please be in touch with our CEO, Mr. Saharsh Damani.

Very close to my heart and as a responsible business entity we must work with our communities to protect our environment. One way is it to plant as many trees possible for making our landscape green and this would not only help to reduce the pollutants in the atmosphere but would also help in increasing ground water table and in soil conservation.

I, hence, request all my dealer friends to start giving a sapling to all our customers with every new vehicle delivery. I have been giving a mango sapling to all my new customers and have till now distributed over 30,000 of them. The benefits are immense, and I am sure that all of you will agree to this and sincerely try to make this a success. In this way, as a community we shall be giving away almost 2 crore saplings every year.

Also, to reduce air pollution we at FADA will be working towards getting the NGT rules in Delhi for not allowing ply of 10-year diesel vehicle & 15-year petrol vehicle on Delhi roads be implemented in top 50 polluted cities in India. This is because road traffic is amongst the primary outdoor contributors of NO2 and long exposure to which is linked to deaths. Being in Automobile Industry, I am sure, we do not want to be looked like custodians of bad health due to air pollution.

This will have multiple benefits for all the stake holders in the industry. If this rule gets implemented, the biggest beneficiary will be our kids who will breathe healthy. Old vehicles in the cities will be banned and will be replaced by new gen vehicles. This will also help the Government and Dealer community in multiple ways.

Further, this will also reduce road accidents as with newer vehicles comes newer technologies which are multiple times safer than a 15–20-year-old vehicle. Let’s deliberate on this in much detail for its successful implementation. Please feel free to write to me with your suggestions at [email protected]

Another initiative which we are currently working on for making roads safer is the “BUCKLE UP INDIA” campaign with the purpose of educating people on the importance of use of seat belts (front & rear); use of ISI marked helmets for both the front & pillion rider on two wheelers & how they are our best friends while on road and while driving. This is because We Do Not Just Sell Vehicles But We Care For Our Communities Too!

Another area where my focus will be on shall be for working towards two- wheeler dealer community interest by making all earnest efforts in getting the total tax of 29% (GST at 28% plus cess at 1%) reduced to 18%. Out of ~2 crore vehicles sold each year; the two-wheeler market share is around 70% which is ~1.4 crore vehicles. Two-wheeler mass segment vehicles is a necessity and not a luxury and therefore, by bringing down the GST rates, the state exchequer will still stand to gain by sheer number of two-wheeler sales shooting up as it would become affordable to a large segment of our country’s population. FADA will be sending representation on this to both state & central GST council members in times to come.

FADA has also been working for a long time to bring automobile workshops under the green zone from the current orange zone it is listed under. Our legal team is working on it to ensure this is achieved. This will help in reducing much of the paperwork required each year for getting approvals from the various government departments thus bringing in Ease of Doing Business.

FADA has also been conducting monthly retail surveys to come out with auto retail figures in first week of every month. These figures are much awaited by the industry, government institutions, RBI & other financial and banking institutions; and finds projection at various central ministry sites. Therefore, please support your Federation by diligently taking the survey as this helps in the production of qualitative survey report.

Friends, the 2nd edition of Dealership Satisfaction Study (DSS’22) received more than 2,000 responses from Dealer Principals or their CEO’s from across India, the highest ever received by any Automobile DSS survey in India. I thank each one of you for taking the survey and supporting your Federation. I will not be doing justice if I don’t acknowledge the efforts put in by our Vice President and Project Director for DSS’22, Mr. C S Vigneshwar. I will also want to thank team PremonAsia for handholding us in driving this project. DSS’22 Awards presentation ceremony took place during the evening of 4th Auto Retail Conclave wherein we gave 11 awards to OEMs.

After a gap of 3 years, FADA is hoisting the 12th edition of its flagship event Auto Summit on the theme- Fit & Future Ready on Friday, January 13, 2023, at Hotel Taj Palace New Delhi. We are also in talks with SIAM, to keep Dealers Day on January 12, 2023 to enable dealers to visit the Auto Expo 2023 exclusively & meet up with their OEMs. January 12, 2023 will also be the inaugural day for Auto Expo 2023. Like last time, FADA will also have its Lounge at the expo grounds where dealers can take a short break, meet co-Dealers, and have refreshments. Program details are being worked out and the same will be communicated as gets finalized. Registrations for the Auto Summit will open soon & with every registration, complimentary pass to visit the Auto Expo on January 12, 2023, would be provided at the expo grounds.

With covid behind us, we will once again be starting State wise ‘Vyapar’ events beginning with Vyapar Madhya Pradesh on 11th November 2022. We will keep updating you as and when a Vyapar gets finalized in other states.
At FADA, I believe that working for the welfare of Auto Retail Industry in India is far greater than one’s own interests.

With this spirit of welfare of the Auto Retail Community, let us all unite and move forward on the path of duty with a dedicated spirit to build a glorious and self-reliant Auto and Auto Retail Industry in India.

Navratri has begun and with this the festivities are on! Let me wish each one of you a bountiful season ahead.

Happy festivities and with warm regards,

Manish Raj Singhania
President