Black Book editorial director Ricky Beggs used his weekly online video report to share a recent conversation he conducted with leadership of the International Automobile Remarketers Alliance.

Along with sharing background about their professional careers, IARA president Levi McCoy of LeasePlan and alliance executive director Tony Long discussed a wide array of wholesale market issues. McCoy touched on how both he and Long came into their alliance roles last fall.

“One of the things that was challenging with Tony and I coming in at about the same time was keeping continuity going, keeping our name and brand out there in the industry,” McCoy told Beggs. “I think Tony and I have done a pretty good job with that. We consult often on current issues, things that we need to be involved with.”

With about 18 months left as IARA president, McCoy is looking to build on the alliance’s expanding member base.

“Certainly I would like to make sure our membership stays strong and even grow. We’d like to see more members and to be the first one thought of when there are discussions about the industry,” McCoy said.

Meanwhile, Long emphasized the value of IARA’s Summer Roundtable, an event set for Aug. 19 and Aug. 20 in Chicago.

“We refer to it as kind of boutique-type meeting because it’s just us,” Long said. “We’re not competing with any other entities, and we basically have full control of the schedule. There’s no fluff. It’s just content. Working with Scott Kolb who is the chair of our education committee, Scott and his committee are putting together a bang-up agenda that’s really going to be informative.”

And like McCoy, Long stressed that broadening IARA’s member base is always a priority.

“We’ve enjoyed some growth, particularly in our consignor base, manufacturers and financial institutions,” Long said. “If you want to be around the decision makers, the folks who are guiding this consignment where it’s going into these different channels, you need to be a part of that discussion.”

The complete session Beggs had with McCoy and Long can be viewed through the video available at the top of this webpage.

Black Book Analysis on Wholesale Trending

On the pricing end of the wholesale market, this past week was an interesting divide between car and truck segments, which were moving in opposite directions. Overall, the market seems to be approaching some stability.

In a bit of analysis provided exclusively to Auto Remarketing on Monday, Beggs discussed these changes in more detail.

See our story here for the complete report.