Perhaps nowadays more than ever, open sales might be the best path for consignors to fetch the highest amounts for their vehicles going through the wholesale market.
Black Book described the ongoing scene in its latest COVID-19 Market Insights released on Tuesday that included a mention of how both car and truck values moved higher for the 12th consecutive week.
According to their volume-weighted data, Black Book analysts said overall car and truck segments both showed gains for what’s basically been the past three months, increasing 0.82% overall this past week. While still higher, the increase wasn’t quite as robust as the prior week when it was 1.08%.
What’s keeping values on that upward march? At least a portion of the push is any kind of licensed dealer trolling the lanes for inventory.
“The open auction environment is the place to be with sellers reporting strong success when they are able to get their vehicles into a competitive bidding environment,” Black Book said in the latest report. “Sellers are enjoying the competition that is happening between the big buyers like CarMax, Carvana, and Vroom.
“Auctions have always had a competitive nature, but in this supply-stricken market, the competition has been taken to a new level,” Black Book continued. “Some sellers are now only wanting their vehicles to be offered for sale in the open bidding environment as they are finding this is warranting a higher success rate and increased dollar value compared to upstream sales channels.”
Whether that consignor has compact sedans or full-size pickups, values for those units are rising, although momentum is decelerating a bit in the car space.
Again based on volume-weighted information, Black Book indicated overall car segment values rose 0.65% this past week, marking the lowest amount of increase since the second week of June when the values first began large week-over-week increases.
Analysts pointed out the highest-volume car segment — those previously mentioned compact cars — slowed down in appreciation this past week as the latest increase came in at 0.57%. That reading is less than half the previous week’s jump, which was 1.21%
When volume-weighting is applied, Black Book computed that overall truck segment values — including pickups, SUVs and vans — climbed by 0.91% last week. That figure more resembled the previous week’s rise of 1.10%.
Black Book noted full-size trucks continued their ascent with an increase this past week of 1.48%; the largest increase of all vehicle segments.
“The lack of available new inventory is a big driver of this increased demand for used full-size trucks,” analysts said.
“New inventory deliveries are increasing, but not at a fast-enough pace, especially when it comes to full-size pickups and crossovers/SUVs,” analysts continued later in the report. “The demand for these units continues to be strong on the lanes, with bidding activity pushing the values higher and higher each week.
“Remarketers continue to push their luck by raising floors each week and buyers are stepping up to be the successful buyer,” Black Book went on to say.
Black Book mentioned one other element that’s become more prominent with the auction world so much different now than it was a year ago.
“With complaints around condition reporting accuracy continuing to be a commonality, a seller’s reputation is more important than ever,” analysts said. “Sellers with a solid reputation for offering quality used units have an advantage with buyers now willing to step up in price on units from a trusted seller.”
In this episode, Cherokee Media Group president Bill Zadeits chats with the leadership of the National Auto Auction Association.
More specifically, 2020 NAAA president Laura Taylor and 2021 NAAA president Julie Picard.
To listen to this episode, click on the link available below, or visit the Auto Remarketing Podcast page.
Download and subscribe to the Auto Remarketing Podcast on iTunes or on Google Play.
Two wholesale industry leaders shared reasons why others should join them during the 2020 IARA Virtual Summer Roundtable hosted by the International Automotive Remarketing Alliance.
ServNet executive director John Brasher opened first by stating why auctions, consignors and other wholesale-market participants should be online for the event set for Aug. 20.
“With several industry events being canceled this year, we are all eager to get together and share information and catch up. We’ve become comfortable with virtual meetings and video conferencing, so it’s the perfect time for the IARA Virtual Summer Roundtable. Thank you to IARA for putting in the legwork to make this happen,” Brasher said.
Strategic Remarketing Solutions president Jeff Bescher added these perspectives.
“While we do not know where the coming year will lead us, the IARA’s Summer Roundtable’s focus on the future is bringing together the best intelligence in the spectrum of our industry, from remarketers, auctions, lenders and suppliers,” Bescher said.
“The interactive discussions and data-driven reports at this conference can offer us a better feel for what we can expect as an industry moving forward,” he went on to say.
Registration for the event can be completed here. For more information or to learn more about the IARA, visit IARA.biz.
As part of Auto Remarketing's annual NAAA Issue spotlighting the auto auction industry, we are once again including an "Auction Life" photo spread of pictures from the past year.
For NAAA-member auto auctions who would like to submit their pictures for inclusion, please upload them to the Dropbox link below by Aug. 28.
Dropbox for NAAA Auction Life Photos
Photo guidelines:
- Each photo MUST INCLUDE the full name of the auction. Otherwise, it will not be included.
- Photos must be high-resolution.
- Photos should be from the past year. These photos can run the gamut: We want to see everything from the daily business operations and sales days to the life and fun that occurs at your auction (for example: cookouts, special events, holiday parties, team-building activities, etc.)
- Due to space constraints, PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL photos. They will be deleted
- We cannot guarantee that all photos submitted will be published.
For your reference, the 2019 Auction Life Photo spread can be found here.
While this year’s event didn’t feature Weezer, Michael McDonald or John Fogerty, DAA Northwest still successfully orchestrated its summertime promotion — the Rock & Roll Sale — albeit in an all-digital fashion.
The event took place on July 22 and July 23 with the traditional series of segments, including a national accounts sale and an evening concert one day, then a dealer sale the next morning. The difference this year was digital as the sales took place exclusively via Edge Simulcast without vehicles or dealers in the lanes, and the concert was online.
McConkey Auction Group chief executive officer and president Bob McConkey described how the event was completely virtual in every respect.
“It was awesome in its own way,” McConkey said in a news release, mentioning that nearly 2,000 of the 2,400 units consigned were sold for an 83% conversion rate.
“While the volumes were obviously way off (a sign of the times) the sales percentage was off the charts,” he added.
The 1,100-unit Rock & Roll Sale offering included a Closed Ford Factory Sale along with open sale vehicles from Ford Motor Credit, Kia Motors America, Thrifty, Hyundai Motor Finance, Kia Motors Finance, Avis Budget Group, Honda Remarketing and Acura Remarketing.
One of DAA Northwest’s core values is “Fun,” and it was evident during the YouTube premier of The Cronkites’ rooftop concert.
The Cronkites have opened for every Rock & Roll Sale headliner since 1999, and they played on the auction’s roof for this year’s virtual party.
The auction pointed out the current pandemic didn’t allow for an in-person celebration, so DAA Northwest’s team delivered it digitally. The auction said concert guests attended online, dancing in their living rooms and engaging in a live chat throughout the 45-minute concert premier.
“Even though it was a great sale, I look forward to getting us all back together next summer for a ‘real,’ old fashion Rock & Roll Sale,” McConkey said.
Together with DAA Seattle, MAG Now, MAG Motorsports and MAG RV Sales, DAA Northwest is an independent wholesale auction owned by McConkey Auction Group (MAG). The company partners with leading auto auction technology providers Auction Edge and EBlock.
MAG also is a member of the National Auto Auction Association and ServNet.
There’s a new general manager at Greater Milwaukee Auto Auction.
It was announced earlier this week that hired for the role is Veronica Kireem, whose 25 years in automotive has included time in corporate, dealership and auction roles.
That experience also includes leadership posts in new-vehicle sales, licensing and finance.
“Her background and leadership abilities are ideal for our dealer-serving team. As a business that welcomes all dealers to attend weekly in-lane or online, we’re thrilled to have someone with such extensive dealership experience on board,” GMAA founder and president Kristie Letizia said in a news release.
“With Veronica’s help, we will continue to set the pace for continued growth as the auction evolves into the future.”
Kireem said in the release: “Greater Milwaukee’s dealer focus in the ideal for me to leverage the skills I’ve acquired over my career.
“Everything I’ve done to this point in the auto industry is going to come into play here — I love it!”
With so much of the automotive industry dependent upon technology nowadays, KAR Global is looking to make sure its wholesale segments critical for dealer productivity and success function well.
Stemming from recent enhancements to ADESA.com both ADESA.ca, the company said on Tuesday that customers now have access to fresh inventory and dealer trade-ins instantly via TradeRev. KAR Global explained this new single sign-on technology can offer customers seamless continuity between the two digital channels.
“The power of both ADESA and TradeRev digital marketplaces are seamlessly combined through this integration, enabling buyers to find, manage and source from even more inventory — faster, easier and more confidently than ever,” said Rick Griskie, KAR’s president of digital marketplaces.
“With a single login, buyers now have instant access to approximately 80% of North America’s off-lease inventory and high quality, retail-ready trade-ins — including roughly 60,000 vehicles per day via ADESA’s digital platforms — and real-time, live bidding from TradeRev,” Griskie continued in a news release.
Features on the modernized ADESA.com and ADESA.ca include a dedicated tile enabling all users to connect to TradeRev instantaneously. Through KAR’s single sign-on technology, existing TradeRev buyers can bid and buy instantly without an additional login step, while dealers without a TradeRev login can view inventory with one-click of a button and complete registration online to transact on the platform.
“ADESA and TradeRev’s platform integration is unsurpassed in the industry, both because of its technical sophistication and the seamless experience it offers to customers,” said Mark Endras, president and co-founder of TradeRev. “KAR’s focus is on the holistic integration of the entire enterprise, creating a more intuitive and simplified experience for dealers across all our auction channels and technology solutions.”
KAR noted that it is in the process of rolling out the modernized ADESA.com and ADESA.ca interface to all users, enabling the seamless transition to TradeRev’s platform and instant access to inventory.
The company added that customers can learn more about the integration by contacting their local auction or sales representative.
Dealers also can learn more than about ADESA through this website and about TradeRev via this webpage.
AuctionACCESS announced this week that the company and Auction Edge, a provider of remarketing technology to independent auto auctions, have integrated the new AuctionACCESS Mobile Card at independent auctions throughout the country.
This gives independent auctions using Auction Edge a smartphone-based way to credential dealers arriving at their facilities.
Last month, AuctionACCESS said it was doing away with printing physical AuctionACCESS cards and was moving to mobile cards.
Here’s how that works.
When a dealer logs on to AuctionACCESS Mobile on a smartphone, the mobile card is automatically generated. The auction then scans the unique QR code displayed on the smartphone.
The auction system communicates with AuctionACCESS in real-time to validate the user and protect the credentials’ security.
Any auction using Auction Edge can access the credentialing tool, which is designed to promote security and a better sale day experience, the companies said in a news release.
“We are thrilled to bring the AuctionACCESS Mobile Card to the over 200 auctions that use an Auction Edge system,” AuctionACCESS senior vice president and chief operating officer Charlie Adams said in the release.
“We remain committed to the provision of next generation solutions for all auctions and appreciate the partnership with Auction Edge to deliver those solutions in an efficient and cohesive manner,” Adams said.
In the same release, Auction Edge chief executive officer Dan Diedrich added: “A founding principle of Auction Edge is to keep our auctions in the lead. We rely on many partnerships with the industry’s best systems and service providers to keep our customers relevant and thriving in a dynamic industry.
“Through our partnership with AuctionACCESS and their Mobile card system, Auction Edge auctions win efficiency and dealers win ease of access to millions of vehicles, both in the lanes and online,” Diedrich said. “These are the partnerships that make business better at independent auctions today and for years to come.”
It’s a question probably executives from throughout the automotive industry are asking.
But a quartet of consignor representatives will try to tackle it during the 2020 IARA Virtual Summer Roundtable hosted by the International Automotive Remarketing Alliance.
A consignor panel discussion on Aug. 20 titled, “Where Do We Go from Here?” will be moderated by United Road director of business development Scott Kolb and will feature:
— Darrin Aiken of Wheels
— Brent Huisman of Exeter Finance
— Melanie Glaze of U-Haul
— Patrick Huibers of Honda Canada
Registration for the event can be completed here. For more information or to learn more about the IARA, visit IARA.biz.
The International Automotive Remarketing Alliance (IARA) finalized the agenda for its 2020 IARA Virtual Summer Roundtable, which is scheduled for Aug. 20.
Set to bring viewpoints from consignors and dealers, the agenda includes nine segments. According to an update from IARA sent to Auto Remarketing over the weekend, the schedule is as follows:
9-9:20 a.m.: Morning Bites
9:20-9:40 a.m.: What’s On the Horizon for Consignors?
9:45-10:45 a.m.: Where Do We Go From Here?
10:50-11:30 a.m.: 2020 Dealer Insights
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.: Lunch & Learn: Back into the Funnel
1:15-2 p.m. Simultaneous Webinars: Titling, Logistics and Repossession
2-2:50 p.m.: The New Business Dynamic of Physical Auctions
3-4 p.m.: The Double Win
4-4:30 p.m.: Wrap-up and Wine
Registration for the event can be completed here. For more information or to learn more about the IARA, visit IARA.biz.
