It was a busy week for the National Auto Auction Association, which hosted its annual Total Access event Wednesday and Thursday in conjunction with NADA Show 2023 in Dallas.
And on Saturday, the group’s NAAA Foundation presented a $75,000 donation to the National Automobile Dealers Association’s Workforce Initiative, which began in 2019 as a way to bring in more service technicians to retail automotive, but has since expanded to include recruitment efforts across all dealership departments.
“As representatives of the auto auction industry, our mission and values align with NADA and the important work of their foundation,” NAAA Foundation Board president Charles Nichols said in a news release. “We know firsthand the wide range of career paths in the auto industry and the importance of recruiting, training, and retaining a talented and diverse workforce.”
Annette Sykora, who chairs the NADA Foundation board of trustees and is dealer principal at Smith Auto Family Ford-Lincoln, added: “We are grateful for the support of industry partners like NAAA and the NAAA Foundation who align in our mission to support and develop the auto industry.
“The Workforce Initiative is evidence of our belief that effective talent development starts with meeting potential employees where they are. That is why our resources focus on promoting education and accessibility to dealership career paths.”
Elsewhere during the events, NAAA renamed its Disaster Relief Fund after Mike Browning, who is the association’s executive vice president and general manager of Manheim San Antonio.
The fund is now known as the Mike Browning Disaster Relief Fund and is part of the NAAA Warren Young Sr. Scholastic Foundation.
Browning helped to establish the fund, and was inspired to do so during his time as GM of Manheim New Orleans, where in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the impact to his auction and employees’ homes, Browning saw how individuals giving back and lending a hand can really make a difference in difficult times.
“I can’t think of anyone who is more deserving of this honor,” said NAAA President Garrison Hudkins. “Mike’s selfless dedication to the NAAA, Manheim, his team members, and above all his genuine caring and compassion for others make him the perfect person to name the Disaster Relief Fund after.”
Next up, NAAA announced that it has named the following as Warren Young Fellows for 2023:
Ed Ammar, vice president, assurance and arbitration at ADESA
Kevin Cook, AVP of client shared services at Manheim
Tommy Rogers, general manager, BSC America
The trio were recognized for their service to the auction industry and leadership as co-chairs of NAAA’s Auction Standards Committee.
“Ammar, Cook, and Rogers currently serve as co-chairs of the NAAA Auction Standards Committee, helping to lead a team that develops and evolves auction industry policy and standards. Under their leadership, the committee has made great strides in building consensus among members in support of the industry,” NAAA said in a news release.
The group added: “NAAA congratulates Ammar, Cook, and Rogers for earning the lifetime distinction of being named a Warren Young Fellow and for joining this exclusive group of individuals who further the legacy of Warren Young, a pioneer of the auto auction industry.”
KAR Global, which is the parent company of auction company ADESA and the TradeRev digital platform, has launched its integrated dealer consignment offerings, which use TradeRev’s 45-minute, live-bidding digital auctions with the full-service capabilities of ADESA’s 74 North American physical auction locations.
KAR says sellers can now transact on up to five distinct auction channels with a combined audience of more than 90,000 dealers. Buyers can source inventory from up to 75,000 unique vehicles offered for sale each day.
The company says that those dealer-centric enhancements advance what it describes as its commitment to “making buying and selling smarter, faster and easier.”
Called “Highway to Sell,” the offering includes three seller options: manual, automatic and cruise control. Those allow dealers to choose the service level that best fits their business.
In manual, dealers use TradeRev to inspect and launch their cars, and with the push of a button, they can send no-sales to ADESA.
In automatic, the KAR Global ground team will inspect and image dealer cars, and within 24 hours, the team will launch them on TradeRev. No-sales are sent to ADESA, and there they receive a full condition report and wash before being run through the lanes and broadcast on ADESA Simulcast. Any remaining cars are then listed on ADESA.com.
Cruise control incorporates all of the previous features.
Also, cruise control adds free transport to any ADESA facility under 75 miles, concierge customer support and TradeReady seller protection against arbitrations or returns.
“On KAR’s ‘Highway to Sell,’ the dealer is in control — just take the on-ramp that works best for your business,” ADESA president John Hammer said in a news release.
Hammer continued, “You can stay in the driver’s seat and manage your own auctions, or just give us the keys, and we’ll take the wheel. No hassles. No worries. Just a straight line, one-way ticket to unloading your unwanted trades and aged inventory.”
“Dealers don’t want to manage multiple apps, auctions and websites — they need a single solution that does it all, and that’s what KAR Global delivers,” KAR Global president Peter Kelly said.
Kelly continued, “For sellers, it’s about choice of venue and getting the most looks and best economic outcome for every vehicle. For buyers, it’s about having the right vehicles at the right price for any lot, including more than 80% of North America’s off-lease inventory that dealers won’t find on any other digital or online platform. In-app, online or in-lane, KAR Global is your open road to buying and selling.”
For buyers, the company is also unveiling its new Move Metal three-day delivery guarantee.
With Move Metal, any vehicle purchased on TradeRev within 500 miles of the buying dealer will be delivered in three days or less or the delivery charge is free.
That feature follows the company’s recent release of its AI-driven vehicle recommendations engine on ADESA.com. The recommendations engine provides individual buyers with real-time recommendations tailored to their specific market and dealership.
“KAR’s formula is simple: Help dealers source the right inventory for their lot and get it there as quickly as possible so they can make a retail sale,” Hammer said.
Hammer continued, “Three-day delivery is nothing short of an expectation for our personal retail experiences. KAR is the first and only company to bring this guarantee to wholesale remarketing, and we’re proud to reset the industry bar.”
KAR will show the new offerings at the company’s booth at this week’s NADA conference.
AuctionACCESS and Manheim say that dealers can now scan their AuctionACCESS Mobile Card at all check-in kiosks at Manheim U.S. auction locations, and that means those dealers can securely validate their identity and receive a bidder badge to enter the auction lanes.
AuctionACCESS is a credentialing system for the wholesale automotive industry, and AuctionACCESS senior vice president and chief operating officer Charlie Adams said the card provides greater security for its auction partners to validate their clients.
It also provides “an enhanced check-in experience for dealers doing business with Manheim,” Adams said in a news release.
To access their mobile card, dealers can download AuctionACCESS Mobile and use their AuctionACCESS username and password to log in to the app.
AuctionACCESS Mobile is available for download from the App Store and Google Play.
The companies say that the mobile card includes a feature similar to mobile airline boarding passes: The mobile card includes a unique QR code with enhanced security features, and those features can be scanned quickly to validate a dealer’s credentials.
Adams described the announcement as “a significant evolution in the history of the AuctionACCESS card,” and he said his company is pleased to bring the features to Manheim U.S. auction locations.
Manheim associate vice president of Operational Excellence Bob Grounds added, “AuctionACCESS is a valued partner in our industry, and we’re happy to be the first to bring this more efficient—and secure—check-in process to our clients.”
Grounds continued, “It’s one more way Manheim is improving the digital client experience at our locations.”
Manheim says its new arrangement with Sirius XM, announced on Wednesday, makes activation easier for dealers and demonstrates the accessibility and benefits of SiriusXM in the pre-owned vehicles they sell.
At no extra cost, dealers purchasing SiriusXM-equipped vehicles from any Manheim U.S. location can now take delivery of vehicles with SiriusXM already activated and working.
The arrangement is an example of how Manheim helps free up time for its clients to focus on their core business of selling cars, Patrick Brennan said in a news release.
“In-vehicle technology has become even more important in used vehicle sales, and we want to do all we can to help dealers get their purchases frontline ready.” said Brennan, who is Manheim senior vice president for Marketplace.
Dealers save time and effort under the new arrangement, according to Manheim, because they no longer need to individually activate radios for vehicles purchased from Manheim locations.
Also because of the arrangement, dealers’ sales teams can more easily and fully showcase SiriusXM’s availability to customers on the lot and on test drives, Manheim said.
Manheim has activated more than 1 million radios since April.
To any of the more than 37,500 franchise and independent dealers who have enrolled in the SiriusXM Pre-Owned Program, Manheim offers complimentary SiriusXM pre-activation. With the SiriusXM Pre-Owned Program, dealers can provide their customers a three-month subscription to the SiriusXM All Access package when they purchase any pre-owned vehicle with a factory-installed SiriusXM radio.
With that All-Access package, customers can experience programming such as every NFL, MLB, and NBA game, along with commercial-free music and radio personality Howard Stern.
Kelly Bianchi believes that many dealers would like to participate more in independent auto auctions.
“But they get frustrated with the disconnect,” said Bianchi, who is president of AuctionVcommerce LLC.
AuctionVcommerce seeks to address that disconnect with a new VIP buyer program that it says can help dealers work with independent auto auctions through a centralized approach.
“It is our job to alleviate customer burden, attract digital customers and make sure they get the same fuzzy feeling as when they physically attend the sale,” Bianchi said in a news release.
With the program, dealers can register with AuctionVcommerce as a single entry point for receiving technical support, and the company says it offers a “concierge approach” to auction services.
Through the program, dealers gain single-touch access to engage with any participating auction through a call center representative. Or, with a universal app, buyers can track their auction activity, submit their post-sale requests, scan and track vehicles, arbitrate and coordinate auction schedules.
AuctionVcommerce started out in 2015 in response to Bianchi’s belief in a need for digital infrastructure.
“Auctions put their businesses online, and our goal was to help them create ‘online businesses,’” Bianchi said.
The company focuses on a digital strategy, stating that helping the independents become more sustainable and competitive online is its primary objective.
After the company engaged in discussions with veteran auction buyers, the initiative to approach the buying community directly began.
“The difficulty in working with independent auto auctions is that, even on single log-in platforms, you still have to approach each auction on its own terms,” said Peter Levy, chief operating officer of RumbleOn, which is the parent company of Wholesale Inc.
Levy went on to say, “In addition, you have multiple account numbers, departments, representatives — There’s a lot to track. The AuctionVcommerce VIP Buyer program provides a universal approach to minimize the burden and ultimately, I think it will help everyone on both ends of the spectrum to operate more efficiently. It’s definitely more desirable for us to work with auctions that have a consolidated approach to service and support.”
Hoping that the initiative will improve online confidence and eliminate additional barriers that impair a dealer’s ability to attend or bid in a live simulcast event, the company is offering the program for free to dealers.
“This universal approach allows us to be more proactive about online support,” Bianchi said. “A dealer can call or text us with the five auctions they plan to attend in the upcoming week, and we will make sure they are eligible. The worst thing is when an auction loses a bidder because the bidder didn’t know they were inactive, needed to update their information, or that they still had a balance on their AR.”
For enrollment, dealers can call or text (833) BID-TECH with their request to join.
Digital auction platform TradeRev has integrated two new in-app features, including “Buy Now,” which company president Becca Polak says opens a second-chance marketplace for buyers and sellers. Polak says the second feature, Third Party Inspected, provides an additional layer of trust for dealers, “so they can buy with confidence.”
TradeRev, a business unit of global remarketing and technology solutions provider KAR Auction Services Inc., has also launched what it describes as “key performance and usability enhancements.” The company said it activated the enhancements to provide greater access to trades, make buyers more confident and create a better end-to-end dealer experience.
With the Buy Now feature, dealers get a second, 24-hour opportunity to buy or sell a vehicle that was not sold in an active auction. Using that feature, dealers can purchase the vehicle with a floor price instantly. Or, they can make an offer on the vehicle. With Buy Now, dealers can sell their inventory without having to launch a new auction. Buyers also receive an opportunity to purchase a vehicle they missed the first time.
The Third Party Inspected badge is a visual indicator appearing next to a trade listing. The indicator shows that a qualified TradeRev inspector inspected the vehicle. With this differentiator, TradeRev says buyers can quickly spot inspected trades, and they can be assured of a consistent, thorough condition report.
TradeRev says that with the Third Party Inspected badge, dealers can also have greater confidence in the listing’s accuracy.
Regarding the enhancement of custom filters and notifications, TradeRev says that creates an improved user experience. Users can now more easily pinpoint their target vehicles, and they never miss a trade because of access to more notification options, according to the company.
For all users, the new features follow the full integration of TradeRev’s H-Vision. That feature, which is an AI-driven image capture, fully automates condition report visualization, according to the company.
“With a customer-first mindset, we’re constantly innovating and updating TradeRev’s features to ensure we’re giving dealers the best possible tool to reach their business goals,” Polak said.
When wholesale vehicle buyers feel they did not get what they pay for, they often must go through a cumbersome process to return the vehicle.
With a new TradeRev pilot program, buyers can now return vehicles, with “no questions asked.”
TradeRev, a business unit of KAR Auction Services, has been piloting what it describes as an industry-first return policy since May.
“With No Questions Asked, we’re making things as simple as possible for buyers — you don’t like the car, you get your money back,” said TradeRev executive vice president of global operations Keith Crerar.
Through the pilot program, buyers can notify TradeRev within two business days of vehicle delivery to use the return policy. At that time, TradeRev refunds the purchase price less any initial transport charges and buy fee.
TradeReady vehicles (inspected by TradeRev), as well as as-is vehicles, are the eligible vehicles for the program.
The company will continue the return policy as a pilot, with plans to roll out availability to all users over the next year.
TradeRev president Becca Polak said in a news release that TradeRev is working to improve the user experience, eliminate friction and build customer trust.
“When buyers feel they didn’t get what they paid for, they enter an arbitration process that involves the seller and can take time,” Polak said. “For dealers, time is money. Our No Questions Asked return policy helps dealers buy with confidence, knowing they can return a vehicle if it’s not what they expected and get their money back quickly.”
“The policy aims to remove all potential pain points for the buyer and is a prime example of how TradeRev is standing behind its commitment to make buying fast, fair and easy for dealers,” Crerar said.
