Industry Trends

Be sure to join us at the upcoming Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) which will be held on May 18-19, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency in Rosemont near the O'Hare Airport. Close to 400 senior managers, executives and others from the automotive aftermarket will be in attendance including retailers/wholesalers such as AutoZone, NAPA, Federated, Pepboys, Uni-Select, and Carquest.

The event has a full agenda of speakers and panels to discuss current topics in the automotive aftermarket. Subjects range from the repair industry trends, Chinese aftermarket, Generation Y thoughts, marketing, OEM impact and commentary on the economy and the aftermarket.

Don't miss the Polk Inventory Efficiency Award ceremony, which will be held on Tuesday afternoon beginning at 1:30 p.m. This is an award given to a manufacturer and/or retailer that has demonstrated process improvement related to improvements in inventory efficiency.

By the way - the proceeds from the event are used for scholarships for aftermarket studies. In 2009, a total of 75 students – 68 in the United States and 7 in Canada – were awarded scholarships by the GAAS scholarship fund and its contributors. In its 14-year history, the fund has presented more than $1.4 million in awards to more than 1,400 students.

Hope to see you there.

Posted by Sam Okimoto,  Account Representative, Aftermarket Team, Polk (05.17.2010)