FORT WORTH, Texas -

GM Financial has named its 2014 Auction of the Year as part of its nationwide Auction of Excellence program, announcing Rawls Auto Auction as the annual winner.

This marks the third straight time and sixth overall that Rawls has earned this distinction from GM Financial, having also received the award for 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013.  

GM Financial’s 44 auction partners were evaluated for their respective performances in customer service, marketing promotions, pre-sale activities and overall auction success.

“The reason we’re so successful is because everyone at Rawls wants to be number one. We all want it, and we all work hard to get it. Every single employee at Rawls puts his or her heart into being named Auction of the Year,” said Jimmy Rawls, the auction’s president and general manager.

“After you’ve won that honor once, you want to win it again,” he added. “We put a lot of emphasis on our GM Financial account knowing that if we treat it like our number one account, that choice will result in this type of success.”

 Jimmy Rawls' father J.M. Rawls founded the auction, which is considered to be the nation’s first auto auction, more than 75 years ago. Auto Remarketing featured the auction in a look-back piece on the rich history of the industry during our 2013 NAAA Convention coverage. 

Auction of Excellence Winners

Rawls Auto Auction was chosen for this GM Financial award from a group of five regional honorees, who were designed as Auction of Excellence winners:

Midwest Region: Grand Rapids Auto Auction (Jenison, Mich.)
Northeast Region: Harrisburg Auto Auction (Mechanicsburg, Pa.)
Southeast Region: Rawls Auto Auction (Leesville, S.C.)
Southwest Region: Sparkling City Auto Auction (Robstown, Texas)
West Coast Region: Brasher’s Sacramento Auto Auction (Rio Linda, Calif).

GM Financial also named Gail Killian from Manheim Pennsylvania as the Inside Coordinator of the Year, and Brian Proue from Manheim Texas Hobby as the Outside Coordinator of the Year.

Explaining those two awards, the company said in its news release: “We recognize that many of these auctions' successes can be attributed to the extraordinary people who work the GM Financial lanes. That's why, in addition to recognizing our outstanding auction partners, we recognize an inside and outside coordinator who went above and beyond to move GM Financial vehicles through the auction process.”