Good points, and well researched. I think that comparing club size between U.S. and U.K. is interesting, but I have an unsubstianted feeling that the British people value their cars more than Americans do. I think we look at them as ways to get from A to B, not so much as objects of affection. I think the more valid comparision would be to compare U.S. Merc, BMW, Saab, Volvo, Lexus, Infiniti, Cadillac, Lincoln any luxury marque's club membership with their sales for the past ten years.
If our memberships is say, 1% of total sales over the past ten years, and everyone else is up around 2-3%, then we have a problem. If everyone is at .5% then we shouldn't rest on our laurels, but we are doing quite well.
My point is that it could be s societal thing.
The next thing to do is to look at what the top clubs are doing. If one has 2% of sales as members, is the national club sponsoring, funding, and running events? If they are and their members consider that one of the big benefits of being a member it's something we should consider.
In my mind, though, it comes down to the local clubs. Here in Arizona we are in an unusual situation. Other than the two of us, there are no clubs within eight hours driving time (unless you are Pascal, then it's about four :->).
I've created drives and invited the Tucson club. They haven't reciprocated, but that doesn't stop me. Last year our drive went down their way and we had two or three of their members join us.
If there is anything the JCNA can do, it would be to facilitate getting the information out. They could designate an annual regional activity for each area and promote it as such. For the Southwest, one year it could be a wine country tour. The next could be the Grand Canyon. It could be coordinated with the sponsoring club's concours, swap meet, slalom, etc. Perhaps we do the regional meets, one per region, in the years between the Challenge Championship.
No matter what, though, it's still going to come down to a local club or two doing the legwork. The only difference, and it will be a big difference, is that the event will be called the JCNA Regional Championship or whatever.
There will be incentives. The host club will bring in a lot of cash through entry fees and sponsorships. It's just a matter of getting people in the club willing to put forth the time and effort to do it. I'm working with Dennis on the CC and he's pestering me every few days for stuff. :-)
Mark