July 25, 2022

Ben Keating of Keating Auto Group won the GTAM category at the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. Ben was driving an Aston Martin GTE race car for TF Sport, along with Henrique Chaves and Marco Sorensen. Ben has competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the past eight years in a row and has been on
the podium in four of the last five years.

High-paying careers at franchised dealerships exist in every community,
especially for persons skilled as auto
technicians. So, why are dealerships
having a hard time hiring auto technicians?

“I use ACV because once I sell a unit and it leaves my lot I never have to worry about it again. “I use ACV because I like keeping my inventory at home. “I use ACV because their customer service cannot be beat.” Jen Coufal, Leif Johnson Ford, Austin ACV Auctions is the transparent dealer-only

Sixty-five scholarship recipients received news this month of their $2,000 scholarships to use toward the tuition of higher education. The nearly 150 applicants came from all lifestyles and circumstances but have two things in
common: their affiliation with a new car
dealership and their yearning to continue their education.

The Valley Automobile Dealers Association (VADA) and its board members are pleased to announce a record year rewarding $51,000 total in
scholarships to 29 recipients of the VADA Scholarship Fund for the 2022-2023 academic year. The recipients were recognized on July 19 at the VADA Annual Luncheon held at the Embassy Suites at the McAllen Convention Center, following a business meeting with keynote speaker Dr. Ricardo Solis, President of South Texas College. The students received a scholarship ranging from $1,000-$3,000. Since the VADA
Scholarship Fund was established in 2017, VADA has rewarded $187,500 in scholarships, all due to the support from the annual VADA Sporting Clay Shoot
and the Jon Buquet Memorial Golf Tournament. The dealers and all VADA’s Associate Members remain dedicated to continued education for students in the Rio Grande Valley.

AutoInc. Donates Over $15,000 to Cancer Survivor Center According to officials with TX AutoInc., the automotive group donated $15,600 to the 24 Hours in the Canyon Cancer Survivorship Center this year after a May fundraiser. a check for the amount was presented on June 9. The donated funds were raised through the group’s Amarillo dealerships,

McRee Ford is proud to celebrate its 75th anniversary. The business has been owned and operated by the same family for its entire tenure. When McRee Ford opened its doors in 1947, there was a parts shortage. “It is amazingly close to
where we are now with the lack of inventory due to the chips,” said Mr. McRee. We want to extend our congratulations to McRee Ford on reaching this amazing milestone.

Mack Trucks announced that Bruckner’s Truck & Equipment in Fort Worth, Texas, is now a Certified Electric Vehicle (EV) Dealer, making this the first Mack dealership to be EV certified in Texas.

Bruckner’s Truck & Equipment recently qualified for EV certification. The
certification is the first to be awarded to a Mack dealership in Texas, so TADA visited with Brian Bruckner, president of Bruckner’s Truck & Equipment, about the family business and that accomplishment. Brian went to Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, and earned a B.A. in general business.

NADA was selected by the Academy of
Interactive and Visual Arts as a Communicator Award winner. The Communicator Awards were founded nearly 30 years ago and recognize
excellence, effectiveness, and innovation in all areas of communication across a variety of industries.

Texas Dealer Academy (TDA) members returned to Washington, D.C. in mid-May to lobby the Texas congressional delegation on important Federal priorities identified by the NADA Legislative Office. The trip had originally been planned for June 2020, but the pandemic and continuing restrictions on operations in Washington, D.C. pushed the visits to May 2022. The TDA group was one of the first visits by franchised
dealers to Capitol Hill since the pandemic began.

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) has appointed Daniel Avitia as the organization’s executive director. He joined TxDMV in 2014 as the director of the Motor Vehicle Division and started serving as the interim executive director in February 2022. TADA recently spoke with Daniel about his life, new position and other subjects.

Note that while the “qualified individual” must have ultimate responsibility for overseeing and managing the information security program, dealers may still delegate particular duties, decision-making, and responsibilities to other staff members. Moreover, the Safeguard Rule does not require that this be the person’s sole job – he or she may have other duties. By now,

I received approval from Business View Magazine to reprint the article published in the April/May issue
which I am including below. I did want to mention that we are now less than six months away from the start of the 88th Texas Legislature and it promises to
be an active one. We still have the General Election (November 8th) between now and then, but I want to
encourage you to connect with your local elected officials, most of whom you know to educate them on issues of
importance to you and to Texas automobile dealers across the state. TADA is hard at work representing you on the legislative, legal, and regulatory fronts.