Pub. 3 2021 Issue 1

buggy whips to move our transport and mufflers to cover our faces on cold January days. I was excited to see that NHADA admitted “independents garage operators” and used car dealers in 1933. Independent shops now make up more than half of the NHADA membership. Looking to the vast NH outdoors, our power sports and RV community is central to much of what makes NH attractive. Finally, the equipment dealers have been, and are still, critical to the construction and agricultural backbone of NH. Critical to NHADA’s success has also been our willingness to get together regularly, not just for business but also for social aspects. In 1934, 300 members gathered together for a meeting, and it was noted in the minutes, “…some exceptionally good entertainment was provided.” The min- utes from 1944 noted a golf tournament at the Manchester CC followed by a luncheon and a business session. This tradition has certainly continued with our annual gath- erings, every other year business expos, excellent golf outings, and now the Big Raffle. In the 25 years that I’ve been involved with auto associa- tions, just about every year, there was talk about the fran- chised dealer going away, the individual owning an auto- mobile going away, flying vehicles landing on our lawns, or the need for repair shops disappearing. Be it pandemics or medical miracles, economic crashes or stock market highs, auto businesses adapted, as did the NHADA. Yet, with each of the challenges thrown at our auto industry, the dealers, the repairers, and all of you adapted and kept selling and fixing. Even during this pandemic, shops quickly adapted. And yet, there have been dramatic changes and will continue to be such changes. Today’s dealer and repairer bear some similarity to their ancestors of the 1920s. Still, technology has pushed the vehicles’ complexity to the point that today’s technician is a computer and electrical whiz. What hasn’t changed, and won’t change, is the need for auto shops to keep the public on the road in safe and roadworthy vehicles. Speaking of electrical, it appears that the glow on the hori- zon is not the next sun rising but more the glow of millions of vehicles re-charging. Maybe. Surprisingly (at least to me), electric cars have been around since the 1820s and ’30s. Yes, that’s right, the 19th century. According to Wikipedia, in 1828, Ányos Jedlik invented an early type of electric motor and created a small model car powered by his new motor. Between 1832 and 1839, Scottish inventor Robert Anderson also invented a crude electric carriage. In 1835, a German professor and his assistant also created a small-scale elec- tric car, powered by non-rechargeable primary cells. Despite the electric car being around for 193 years, the December 2020 YTD U.S. Sales by powertrain reveals that “electric” (Hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and 100% electric) was 5.1% of the market. However, this share will likely dramati- cally increase in the coming decades. In January of 2021, General Motors, which has the largest market share in the US, announced that all of its models will be electric by 2035. They have joined a growing number of manufactur- ers that plan to have many electric versions of their models or become fully electric. This will represent a dramatic shift in the automobile world. All NHADA members will have to make adjustments to their business operations. NHADA itself is working closely with its members to see what we need to do to ensure its members have the greatest chance at success. Part of that will include making sure that we have a savvy and knowl- edgeable auto tech workforce. Despite this predicted shift, NHADA will still be your voice in NH, and each of you will always keep NH’s economic engine running. Happy New Year! Happy new centennial! Continued from Page 7 D R I V E 8