CARY, N.C. — Registration is now open for the Automotive Economic Forecast & Financial Forum, the newest automotive industry event from S&A Cherokee, publishers of the Auto Remarketing and SubPrime Auto Finance News media brands and owners of the Pre-Owned Auto Dealers Alliance. The forum will be held May 10-11 at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile.

Registration is available online at www.automotiveforecastforum.com, the conference's newly launched Web site. The site also offers hotel and travel information, sponsorship details, the latest news about the conference and agenda information.

Attendees who register for the conference before April 12 will receive the early bird registration rate of $695. After that time, the cost to register goes up to $795.

The event is designed for automotive industry executives, banking and finance industry executives, allied industry executives, dealer group executives, supplier and aftermarket executives, economists, and analysts from a broad spectrum of new and pre-owned automotive sales, manufacturing, leasing, financing and aftermarket arenas.

As the list of speakers continues to grow, S&A Cherokee has already announced several featured speakers, including:

—Mark Vitner, managing director and senior economist, Wells Fargo Securities.

—William Strauss, senior economist and economic adviser, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

—Sudarshan Mhartre, senior analyst, PricewaterhouseCoopers, AutoFacts.

—Bernard Swiecki, director of market analysis, Center for Automotive Research.

The conference represents S&A Cherokee's first departure from conferences focused exclusively on the pre-owned marketplace, according to S&A Cherokee executive Bill Zadeits.

"For the first time, the pre-owned industry won't be the sole focus of an S&A Cherokee conference," said Zadeits. "The pre-owned marketplace is an important one and will certainly be included, but we're broadening the scope of this conference to examine the entire automotive industry, where it is headed and what the expectations are for the rest of 2010 and beyond."

For more information about the event, contact Marilu McQuilkin, director of meetings and events, at (800) 608-7500, ext. 143 or mmquilkin@sacherokee.com.