CARY, N.C. — In response to rising industry interest, the 2006 National Remarketing Conference announces its plan to feature Evan Etheridge, national sales director for Credit Union Direct. Presenting workshops in two separate time slots, Nov. 1 at 3:00 p.m. and Nov. 3 at 10:00 a.m., Etheridge will share his knowledge of how credit unions can and will play a much larger and strategically important role in the remarketing industry in the future.

"Right now, credit unions play a large role on the front end on the auto lending side, but we have yet to harness that ability on the back-end side, which is what we will be focusing on and trying to do through developing our remarketing program," said Etheridge. CU Direct is the largest indirect point-of-sale lending network for Credit Unions in the US. Working with more than 7,800 dealers and 580 credit unions in 44 states, CU Direct has generated as much as $15 billion in auto loans in one year.

Since Manheim is the preferred provider for managing the remarketing portfolios of participating credit unions, Jon Schrock, director of national accounts for Manheim, will be co-presenting with this workshop.

"We at Credit Union Direct Lending are not professional remarketers, but we picked Manheim as our preferred provider to help us to put together our educational and training platform and to utilize their remarketing services." Etheridge said.

"This year's National Remarketing Conference is shaping up to be a very exciting and informative event," said Ron Smith, conference chair, "a must-attend for those still making travel plans for the fourth quarter."

Recent executives added to the agenda include Paul Seger, of GE; Tony McCune, dealer principal of McCune Chrysler-Jeep in National City, Calif.; Elizabeth Daniels, president and owner of Daniels Chevyland in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Tony Moorby, who will serve as moderator for The Auction Market — In the Lanes & Online.

Top billing includes keynote addresses from Raj Sundaram, senior vice president and head of dealer solutions for DealerTrack (former president of ALG), and Lonnie Miller, director of industry analysis at R.L. Polk & Co.

Raj Sundaram will serve as a keynote speaker for the event, providing insights into present market conditions and how ALG is forecasting 2007 and future-year trends. In addition, for the first time, the ALG Annual Lease Residual Awards will be handed out at NRC. On top of Sundaram's presentations, another NRC highlight will be the release of an exclusive study concerning the used vehicle retail market by Lonnie Miller, director of industry analysis at R.L. Polk & Co. Miller will convey the study's findings, compiled by his company.

As for Miller, his study will examine and provide attendees with an insider's understanding of used vehicle trends. As director of industry analysis for Polk, Miller will discuss the growing importance and impact of the used car market.

In addition to these key speakers, other topics featured during workshops and presentations at the National Remarketing Conference include the subprime market, Experian and cars.com executives on buying trends in the Internet marketplace, IntelliChoice.com Certified Awards, certified programs and more.

Early bird registration discounts are available until Sept. 22. To register or see more information, visit http://www.autoremarketing.com// and click on the National Remarketing Conference, or call Jennifer Ingulli, events manager, at (800) 608-7500.