MONTREAL and McLEAN, Va. -

The Montreal Automobile Dealers Corp. and NADA University have broadened their training partnership to give the Quebec association’s dealer members three additional courses, each of which is taught in French.

Late in 2010, the organizations rolled out the pilot course of their partnership, which delved into parts operations. Following the successful pilot, NADA U and MADC (or CCAM in French) scheduled these classes, as well:

—Service Operations (last month)
—Variable Operations (late 2011)
—Financial Statement Analysis (early 2012)

“My vision was to offer CCAM members access to the world’s best courses in their language (French),” said Diane Belair, senior adviser at the Montreal dealer group. “I knew that NADA had never done this before, but after three years of development of the concept, the dream did come true. Today, the CCAM–NADA relationship is outstanding and CCAM members are learning the best from the best in French in Quebec.

“Dealership staff members are amazed not only by all that they learn, but also by all they have not been doing as well as they could,” Belair added. “They leave these courses equipped to perform better than ever before, and that is the reason for the resounding success of this program.”

Officials indicated that NADA U may use this program as a model in crafting future programs with international dealership groups.

“Our training programs have earned a reputation by dealers around the world as the best training available for growing their businesses,” said NADA University business development director Bob Kostkan. “We’re proud to expand its access to dealers beyond our borders and in their language.”

The classes are geared for dealership owners, upper management and future store leaders in Quebec. It is the first endeavor by the National Automobile Dealers Association and NADA U to provide official content taught outside the U.S. or in a language other than English.

NADA U’s American Society for Training and Development-certified instructors trained the Canadian course leaders.