UsedCarNews.com
November 5, 2018
Year Passes Quickly for NAAA President
Photo by Jeffrey Kowalsky HERITAGE: Warren Clauss, outgoing President of the National Auto Auction Asssociation, and incoming President Chad Bailey stand in front of a portrait of Henry Ford at the Dearborn Inn. The NAAA will host its annual convention in Scottsdale, Ariz., this month. By Jeffrey Bellant
Rush - Dated Material
DEARBORN, Mich. – A president of the National Auto Auction Association usually has a plan mapped out for the upcoming term, but sometimes the leader has to address new ideas and unexpected challenges. ADESA Buffalo’s Warren Clauss, outgoing NAAA president, turns over the president’s gavel this month to incoming President Chad Bailey of Akron Auto Auction. Clauss talked about his term recently during an interview in the city where Ford Motor Co. is headquartered. He said he enjoyed his
time in the top spot. “It was awesome,” Clauss said. “But it went quick, though. I was told it (would go quick) and it did.” Clauss said when he became president-elect, he got to travel with then-President Jerry Hinton in the year before his term. “I kind of got exposed to just about everything,” he said. “The one thing I didn’t get to do with Hinton that I got to do this year was the World Automobile Auctioneer’s Championship (at ADESA Chicago). Clauss was thrilled to serve as emcee. “That was one of the highlights of the year and something I didn’t get
to do before,” Clauss said. Although the NAAA has an orderly succession in its leadership and there is an agenda going into the year, it doesn’t mean there aren’t surprises. “You can’t really plan for the whole year, because something is always going to come up,” Clauss said. “To be honest, we were talking last year about the lack of technicians in the industry. We weren’t quite sure what to do about it.” What leadership decided was to commission industry analyst Glenn Mercer to do a study on the issue. Mercer released the results earlier this year.
Now the NAAA hopes to work with the National Automobile Dealers Association on the issue, he said. Another idea that came up in the past year is a disaster relief fund. “In the past, whenever there’s been a natural disaster, we’ve often called our members to find out if anyone is in need,” he said. “If someone is hurting, we’ll go and provide (help). “So this year, at our national convention, we’re going to have Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally sign a pedal car and have an auction. Hopefully, we’ll be able to use that as our seed money for NAAA’s Disaster Relief Fund.”
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