NEW ORLEANS -- The National Automobile Dealer Association meeting is over, and the crowds are heading to Metairie to cross their fingers that flight schedules are as smooth as this year's conference was. Certainly from a reporter's perspective, it was a smooth flight notwithstanding the bump or two on the video side of things.

NEW ORLEANS -- Hyundai Motor America has been holding court during NADA in the nicest hotel the Big Easy has to offer: the Ritz-Carlton on Canal. And strolling through it, the first thing you experience are luxurious marble floors and a scent that, if you're from Brooklyn, is as close to heaven as you get before the Big Sleep. It's the right place for the Fountain Valley, Calif. automaker to be.

Montgomery, Ala.-based Honda dealer Forrest McConnell, newly minted Chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, spoke briefly during the closing keynote event featuring Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Among other things he touched on the current fight dealers are engaged in with regulators around dealer financing.

NEW ORLEANS -- Speaking to a roomful of the nation's auto dealers here this morning, former Secretary of State and presumed Presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton discussed the virtues of multinational business and how it helps auto retailers. Her favorite model, she said, is George Marshall's plan for rebuilding Europe after World War II, versus an approach to isolationism.

Marketing Daily's Karl Greenberg chats with automotive heavyweights -- Volkswagen's Shahani, Deutsch's Else, Others at the National Automobile Dealers Association conference in New Orleans.

NEW ORLEANS -- Volkswagen is tying it all together -- brand consistency across advertising, a focus on vehicles, and a seamless creative look -- in its new "Smart Buy" regional dealer group campaign, Vice President-Marketing for the Volkswagen brand said Sunday during the third day of the National Automobile Dealers Association conference here.

NEW ORLEANS -- Tim Mahoney, global CMO of Chevrolet, spoke to Mediapost Saturday during NADA here about the unconventional way the automaker configured its advertising for the first quarter. Typically, agency work ramps up around a product launch or a tentpole media event like the forthcoming Super Bowl. Chevrolet did things differently this time, Mahoney tells Mediapost Live, outlining its "Find New Roads" brand umbrella. Instead of developing its 2014 creative in stages, it was produced pretty much in one fell swoop.

Jim Farley, Ford's executive vice president-global marketing, sales and service spoke briefly to a small gathering of dealers and press attending the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) confab about the automaker's longer-term goals worldwide. Noting that the company sold six million new vehicles last year, up 10%, and three times the growth of the industry, he said the goal is to grow another 25% in a relatively short time frame.

NEW ORLEANS -- Consumer experience is very much a theme at NADA's annual conference here this weekend. BMW's Ludwig Willisch talked about it on Friday and Ford, which launched the Consumer Experience Movement (CEM) three years ago, had some metrics to talk about at NADA on Saturday. Elena Ford, Ford's vice president-global dealer and consumer experience, and dealers from Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. discussed how the program has changed the dealership culture.

NEW ORLEANS -- Steve Szakaly, chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and Jonathan Banks executive analyst for its used car division were pretty optimistic about the economy during a presentation here Saturday, at least as far as cars are concerned.