OPENLANE Celebrates 10th Anniversary

By Jennifer Reed, Auto Group Editor
July 14, 2009

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MENLO PARK, Calif. — OPENLANE celebrated its 10-year anniversary Tuesday by announcing record-breaking financial results for the first half of the year, in addition to offering special promotions and discussing auction values.

OPENLANE reported that it continues to achieve significant milestones in growth, breaking sales records in the first and second quarters of this year.

In the second quarter, the company said it sold close to 105,000 vehicles, surpassing its first record.

In addition, the company indicated it set a new monthly sales record in June with 37,488 vehicles sold.

Furthermore, OPENLANE officials pointed out that they sold 10,000 vehicles in Canada during June for the first time.

Decade of Innovation

OPENLANE began 10 years ago with a vision of moving the entire wholesale auto auction process onto the Internet, officials explained.

The founders of the company stood fast to their belief that technology could bring greater efficiency to the wholesale automotive market.

Their dedication appears to have paid off.

"OPENLANE's viability and success are indicators of how prescient that vision was in creating a better way to deliver value for consignors and dealers," executives highlighted.

Daniel Farrar, chief executive officer, explained, "The 10th anniversary of OPENLANE is a momentous event that demonstrates our commitment and dedication to bringing better ideas, better closed loop processes, and best-in-class technology to automotive remarketing.

"It's no secret that our industry is experiencing tumultuous times. Yet, OPENLANE has weathered these changes and continues to grow and exceed sales records this year despite uncertainty in the market," he said. "We couldn't have done it without the bold decision-making and support of our customers, and we look forward to the next 10 years."

Over the past decade, the company has registered more than 25,000 dealers as customers and has partnered with a variety of automotive brands to power its remarketing programs.

Moreover, it has expanded service offerings beyond the auction to include a comprehensive range of value-added services, such as title processing, vehicle condition reports and nationwide transportation.

"We have been buying and selling on OPENLANE since 2005 and are very pleased with the high quality of cars and level of service we receive on a consistent basis," said Mark Clifton, general sales manager, of DCH Auto Group.

"OPENLANE has opened up a much broader playing field for obtaining inventory. I'm no longer limited to my own geographic area to find that cars that I need. Without having integrated an online auction strategy into our business operations, we would not be as successful as we are today," he continued.

Special 10-Year Anniversary Promotion

As part of the anniversary celebration and as a thanks to all of the dealers who have helped grow OPENLANE to be a leading online auction, the company said it is offering a special August promotion.

Dealers who buy or sell at least 10 vehicles on any OPENLANE-powered online auction during the month of August will receive one free buy-fee or sales-success fee.

More details on the promotion can be found at: https://marketing.openlane.com/OA/atc-open/pdfs/10year-promo.pdf.

OPENLANE Price Index

Analyzing auction prices via its platform, OPENLANE found that all vehicle segments continued to show price stability in June. However, dealer interest in trucks appears to have declined, officials noted.

"Car pricing continued to remain unchanged for three consecutive months and slightly below June 2008 levels," according to the company.

As for minivan pricing, it continues to come in at its highest level since the January 2008 baseline. In fact, it came in above June 2008 levels by about 7 percent.

Officials also noted that, "SUV pricing is also at its highest level since the baseline and continue to strengthen last month, surpassing June 2008 levels by 18 percentage points."

Meanwhile, the truck segment was relatively flat, but it came in above June 2008 by about 23 percent.

Reviewing dealer interest in models, OPENLANE discovered that the car segment saw a slight decline and dropped about 5 percent from June 2008 levels.

Looking at minivans, the company said dealer interest is at its highest level since January 2008, up 19 percent in June and up 47 percent year-over-year.

As for SUVs, they also saw a jump in dealer interest, up 5 percent in June and up 15 percent from June 2008.

Trucks, on the other had, weren't quite so popular. Dealer interest in these units declined 14 percent for the month and 34 percent from June 2008.