The International Automotive Remarketers Alliance honored its Circle of Excellence winner for 2012 on Wednesday during a special luncheon and keynote address at the NAAA/CAR event in Las Vegas, bestowing recognition upon Virgil Matczak.

Delivering the keynote address during the luncheon was Tim Martin, of LeasePlan, USA.

With this honor, Matczak became the first person to have won the IARA Circle of Excellence Award having been inducted into both the National Auto Auction Association Hall of Fame and the National Independent Automobile Dealer Association Ring of Honor, IARA’s Matthew Marks told Auto Remarketing.

“I think that’s a significant recognition for Virgil,” Marks noted.

Matczak won the NAAA recognition in 1997 and received the NIADA honor in 2003. Among his other industry accolades is the 1995 Chrysler Corp. CEO Award for cost savings.

Sharing more about the award winner, Matczak is currently the national sales manager for Dealer’s Auto Auction and has extensive experience in the auto  business going back more than four decades.

His first stop was with Chrysler, where he came aboard in 1965 and served in finance, sales and operations. Matczak would later work in remarketing sales and operations for the automaker.

He began working at the Auction Broadcasting Co. in 2001, spending the next 10 years serving in national sales and marketing sales positions before joining Dealer’s Auto Auction last year.

Additionally, Matczak was IARA’s treasurer from 2005 to 2010.

“I’ve know Virgil for more than 20 years,” said Marks. “He was one of the pioneers in the remarketing industry.”

In fact, Marks noted that Matczak was one of the first to employ electronic condition reports to determine excess wear-and-tear on vehicles.