The Greater Charlotte Auto Dealers Association (GCADA) hosted its 4th Annual Auto Tech Competition at Charlotte Motor Speedway, bringing together high school students and local dealerships to strengthen the automotive technician pipeline and connect future talent with career opportunities.
Presented by the Carolina Ford Dealers, the competition allowed students to demonstrate their skills through hands-on, on-vehicle challenges after weeks of preparation with dealership mentors. Throughout the day, dealers engaged with students during interviews, a career fair, and a Dealer & Student Q&A, highlighting the critical role dealerships play in developing tomorrow’s technicians.
The event concluded with a Winner Circle ceremony, awarding more than $30,000 in college scholarships to the top teams:
- 1st Place: Career Academy & Technical School Team 4 – Randy Marion Subaru
- 2nd Place: Hickory High School – Mike Johnson’s Hickory Toyota
- 3rd Place: Forest Hills High School Team 1 – Honda of Indian Trail
“This competition connects students directly with dealers and reinforces the importance of growing our technician workforce,” said GCADA Executive Director Ahmad Halawi.
“Events like this are critical to growing the technician pipeline and connecting students with real career opportunities at dealerships,” said Megan Dolan, NADA Director of Program Development. “They align exactly with NADA’s workforce initiatives, including our Service Technician Apprenticeship Program, or Apprenticeship in a Box, which provides dealers with turnkey resources to launch and sustain their own technician apprenticeship programs.”
For more information, please visit https://www.charlotteautocareers.com/ or reach out to Executive Director Ahmad Halawi at ahmad@charlotteautoshow.com.
