Bobit Publishing announced two new keynote speakers for the Conference of Automotive Remarketing (CAR), to be held Feb. 23-25, 2003, at the Las Vegas Hilton. Charley Smith, incoming president pro tem of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), will speak on Monday, Feb. 24, 2003. John Smith, vice president and general manager, field sales, service and parts, General Motors, will speak on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2003. Charley Smith is chairman of the board of Watson Truck & Supply in Hobbs, NM. He currently represents New Mexico’s franchised new-car dealers on the NADA board of directors. He has been the New Mexico chairman of the Dealers Election Action Committee, NADA’s political action committee, and is a past chairman of the New Mexico Automotive Dealers Association. Smith graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico and serves on the board of directors of the University of New Mexico Foundation. He has a D.D.S. from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and practiced dentistry for 15 years before becoming a new-car dealer in 1985. Prior to assuming his current position in January 2002, John Smith served as GM vice president and general manager of service parts operations. He has also served as GM vice president and general manager of Cadillac Motor Car Division, president of Allison Transmission, headquartered in Indianapolis, and vice president of planning for General Motors Europe, based in Zurich. He is a 1973 graduate of General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) and holds an MBA from Har-vard University.

0 Comments