TAA

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Tri-State Convention Registration is Open

The 2026 Alabama-Mississippi-Tennessee Car and Truck Dealers Convention is only four months away in Destin, Florida. Scheduled for June 21-24 at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa, the gathering is one you will not want to miss. 

Registration Information

Click Here to Register Online

Accommodations (Registration required separately)

Reserve your room directly with the Hilton Sandestin today using this QR Code or by calling reservations 850.267.9500 and reference our group code, AMN or click here to reserve your room online. 
Sponsorship Opportunities
Numerous sponsorship opportunities are available for industry friends to connect with some of their most important customers by sponsoring the convention. To download Sponsorship information and a Sponsor Reply Form CLICK HERE. For additional information, contact Kelly Barber (615) 269-3433 or email kelly@taaonline.biz.

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Johnny Wayne Farris named Tennessee Time Dealer of Year

Congratulations to Johnny Wayne Farris for being Tennessee’s nominee for Time Dealer of the Year
TAA congratulates Johnny Wayne Farris, president of Farris Motor Company in Jefferson City for being Tennessee’s nominee for the 2026 TIME Dealer of the Year national award. He is a recognized leader in our industry here in Tennessee and we congratulate him for this great accomplishment!

Johnny Wayne is one of a select group of 47 dealer nominees from across the country who will be honored at the 109th annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 5, 2026. 


Johnny Wayne literally grew up in the business founded by his grandfather in 1929. After earning a B.S. from Tennessee Technological University, he joined Farris Motor Company full time in 1972 and has led Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealerships through multiple industry cycles, centering the operation on the Golden Rule, transparency, and long-term relationships.

Johnny Wayne has served the TAA on the Board of Directors since 2000, including Secretary/Treasurer (2010–2011) and Chairman (2011–2012), In 2025, he received the Roberts V. Weaver Award, the highest honor a Tennessee dealer can receive.
 
His community work includes long-standing support of God’s Warehouse, which has shipped 140+ forty-foot containers of humanitarian aid over the last twelve years—supporting East Tennessee families, Israel (via the Joseph Project), and Ukrainian refugees.

The TIME Dealer of the Year award is one of the automobile industry’s most prestigious and highly coveted honors. The award recognizes the nation’s most successful auto dealers who also demonstrate a long-standing commitment to community service.

Farris was chosen to represent Tennessee in the national competition – one of only 47 auto dealers nominated for the 57th annual award from more than 20,000 nationwide.  

To read the press release from Time, please click here.

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New-Car and -Truck Dealers Driving Tennessee’s Economy

Tennessee dealers are an economic driver of the state economy.  Nearly 350 new car dealerships in the state employ over 50,000 Tennesseans with pay over $2B in annual salaries and wages.  

Key Facts:

  • Over 3,000 independent dealers.
  • Over 13,080 licensed salespeople.
  • This represents more than 5% of the total retail workforce in Tennessee.
  • This 5% earn approximately 10% of the total retail wages paid in Tennessee.
  • Sales of motor vehicles are the largest single source of Tennessee sales tax revenues (approx. 12% of the total).
  • Average sales per franchised dealer in Tennessee = $29.4 million.
  • Average annual payroll per franchised dealership = $2.46 million.

  • Tennessee dealers generate hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue for state and local governments through sales & use taxes, F&E taxes, and Tennessee Business Taxes.
  • Tennessee dealers also generate tremendous economic stimulus through their purchases of advertising, goods and services, etc.
  • Tennessee businesses pay approximately 40% of total sales tax collected.
  • Bottom line . . . Tennessee’s economy depends upon our ability to sell cars and trucks in the regional marketplace.

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Welcome to TAA!

The mission of the Tennessee Automotive Association (TAA) is to protect, promote and advance the welfare of our members: retail car and truck dealers, valued associate and finance members and all of our members’ customers.

Tennessee Automotive Association
2521 White Avenue
Nashville, TN 37204
615-269-3433

2026 NADA Convention

Las Vegas, NV

February 3-6, 2026