Craig Amelung is making a prediction about the upcoming NAAA World Remarketing Convention.

“We’re certain to not leave Kansas City without the word, ‘tariff’ coming up,” Amelung, who is NAAA president, said in an interview before the event. Amelung said talk about tariffs could lead to questions on what tariffs mean for vehicle volumes and vehicle values.

“The one thing that I think [has] really been a mainstay throughout time with our industry is that we’re resilient,” Amelung said. “We figure out how to get it done, and we figure out how to make those adjustments as an auction industry to overcome those obstacles.”

In addition to providing attendees with information on obstacles such as tariffs, the event will also cover opportunities. The opportunity of artificial intelligence is having an impact on many industries, and a session at the convention will cover the future of AI. Another session at the event is on the topic of how AI is transforming condition reports.

That first session is titled, “AI Now and Next: Getting Ready for the Future of AI,” and Steve Brown, a former executive at Google DeepMind and Intel, will lead the session.

Amelung said Brown, who is known as an AI futurist and generative AI and machine learning expert, presents information in a way that gets the audience’s attention. Part of Brown’s presentation will examine the future possibilities of autonomous agents, reasoning AIs, and next-generation robots. Amelung made another prediction about that session.

“I can guarantee you the crowd is going to leave thinking, ‘Oh my goodness. That’s what’s coming?’” Amelung said.

Tech and legislation

E-titling is a prominent topic in the auction industry now, and Amelung said coordination is necessary because each state is performing e-titling differently.

“In our industry, the title is money,” he said. “That’s the device that allows everything to happen.”

The association is working with states that are starting to develop their own e-titling programs.

“Because all the states have a different title, all the states have different fees … many of the states are doing things in a different fashion, and so the mechanics of how it all comes together is a little different,” Amelung said.

A session at the World Remarketing Convention titled “Hot Topics in Statehouses: E-Titles and the Laws that Could Redefine Remarketing” will cover that issue, and Amelung said the session will also highlight how state legislatures often do not make a distinction between wholesale and retail when they propose legislation.

“A lot of the legislation that … is proposed, it’s meant to protect the retail consumer,” he said. “And so a lot of what we do is educating both on the state and federal level to get our government officials to understand the distinction between the two.”

Legacy and the role of the independents

The association continues supporting the independent auctions, Amelung said.

“If you talk about the heritage of the association and you look at the independent auctions and some of these others over the years that have just been so significant to really how the NAAA has grown … certainly we are seeing the influence of [mergers and acquisitions] in our business,” he said.

He noted how dealer mergers and acquisitions have been in the news recently, and he added that the auctions are going through the same thing as some independents are selling to some of the chains and groups.

“This association owes a lot of its growth and early development to the independent auction operators, and so we want to make sure that we continue to support them and make sure that we are representing them, and they’re well represented in everything that’s going on,” he said.

And on that topic of tradition, Amelung talked about a session at the NAAA convention titled “Legacy in Motion: Stories of Culture, People, and Cultivating Talent.”

The association states that “industry icons” at the session “will share how they navigated shifting market landscapes, built resilient company cultures, and led through times of both change and opportunity.”

Those industry icons are Chuck Redden, CEO of AutoTec; Laura Taylor, general manager of America’s Auto Auction Charleston; John Poteet, educator and consultant, TPC Management/Auction Academy; Jeff Barber, president and owner of State Line Auto Auction; and Dan Kennedy, who is retired and previously worked for General Motors Remarketing.

“We don’t want to forget what got us to where we are, and they’re still really relevant components of the past and our heritage and things that we have to not only honor but I think we have to hold on to, because they still can be very core to our future development,” Amelung said. “And so we’re hoping that’s an opportunity for some of the younger people in our organization to hear from some of our past participants … what helped make them successful, because some of that is still relevant today.”

Networking and more

NAAA announced in August that Bo Jackson, scheduled to be the closing keynote speaker of the 2025 NAAA World Remarketing Convention, has canceled due to “unforeseen circumstances.”

Replacing him in the lineup will be former NFL defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, a five-time All-Pro and Super Bowl champion. Suh, an engineer, entrepreneur and investor, will headline the event with insights from his NFL career, entrepreneurial ventures and philanthropic work, NAAA said.

Speaking of sports, Amelung is enthusiastic about the AutoTec Invitational golf tournament that will take place during the convention, saying that the event promotes networking and bringing people together from different parts of the industry. He also said the Loews Kansas City Hotel is a convenient site for the event, with meeting spaces just a quick elevator or escalator ride away from each other.

“It’s a beautiful property, and I’m really excited to go to Kansas City,” Amelung said.

He elaborated on resilience, saying the industry has managed to thrive through challenges such as tariffs.

“As you look back over time and you think of all the things that have happened, whether it’s a change in administration, with a change in philosophy, whether it’s interest rates being up or interest rates being down, or whether it’s something like COVID, somehow, some way, people still need cars, they still need to get to work, they still need to take their kids to school, and somehow, some way, the used vehicle industry … it’s a thriving part of our overall economy.”