Record attendance, in addition to more training classes, participants and student attendees, highlighted the 60th annual KOI Auto Parts-Federated Cavalcade of Customs.  

The event took place Jan. 10-12 at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati.

“Every year, the Cavalcade exceeds our expectations, and this year’s event did not disappoint,” said Dave Wesselman, vice president of KOI region. “In addition to show-stopping custom vehicles on display and fun celebrity appearances, we offered more training classes than ever before. We had a 20% increase in technician participation over last year and were able to add classes for over 300 of our own parts professionals. In addition to training, more than 60 vendor partners were on hand for a booth show, displaying products and answering questions for attendees.”

On the opening day of the Cavalcade, KOI hosted its annual Student Day, in which approximately 400 students from local high schools, adult education programs and colleges had the opportunity to attend a morning session featuring testimonial presentations from successful auto care professionals.

As part of the popular annual Cavalcade event, Federated and KOI hosted a special VIP event for shop owners that also saw record attendance. Respected marketing guru Ron Ipach, “Captain Car Count” from Repair Shop Coach, was the featured speaker at the VIP event and provided an exclusive and motivational presentation with techniques and tips to help repair shops thrive. Larry Pavey, CEO of the Automotive Parts Services Group and Federated Auto Parts, also provided an information-filled 2020 “State of the Industry” presentation.

“Ron Ipach and Larry Pavey gave very compelling presentations that were extremely well-received by our shop owner customers,” said Wesselman. “A big ‘thank you’ to them, everyone at Federated who volunteered their time to help with our training sessions, and our supplier partners who help make the Cavalcade a huge success every year.”