Scrubbing vehicle surfaces because of the coronavirus pandemic is top of mind nowadays, but Privacy4Cars and AutoIMS announced a collaboration this week to clean the technology system of today’s modern models.
The companies finalized a new data partnership to provide visibility to consignors and auctions on the removal of nonpublic personal information previous owners and drivers may have left in consigned vehicles’ on-board systems. The information can include details such as previous destinations, home address, garage door codes, contact lists, call logs, text messages, device identifiers and more.
If auctions adopt the Privacy4Cars technology to delete personal data from vehicles in remarketing inventory, AutoIMS users — at no additional charge — will be able to monitor and have metrics on the deletion activity, including whether a data deletion extended warranty is applied.
The companies highlighted this cooperative effort to stem the dissemination of potentially-damaging privacy information is largely credited to the work of the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance (IARA) Technology, Standards, and Compliance Committees.
“The issue of vehicles showing up at auctions while still containing the personal data of consumers keeps coming up in discussions with our consignor and auction partners.” said Keely Smith, director of business services at AutoIMS and co-chair of the IARA Compliance Committee.
“With more consignors requiring the deletion of this data and more auctions starting to offer the service through Privacy4Cars, we are confident this partnership is a big step forward in establishing a common process and providing visibility and trackability across the entire remarketing ecosystem,” Smith continued in a news release. “This is a clear fit with our mission to be the industry standard and one-stop shop for managing vehicle remarketing portfolios.”
Privacy4Cars.com founder Andrea Amico pointed out that a growing number of privacy, security and data disposal laws are being passed in many states — with significant implications for vehicle controllers and processors.
“At Privacy4Cars, we always focus on how to make privacy for cars businesses-friendly,” Amico said. “Our tool makes it easy for auctions to offer the deletion service as a turnkey solution, but equally important is the fact that our entire platform has been built to give consignors detailed compliance records by default and by design for every VIN.
“The AutoIMS philosophy of visibility and accountability in the automotive wholesale industry makes them a perfect fit with our mission to deliver a structured, repeatable and auditable process that can meet the increasing legal and reputational privacy challenges vehicles pose,” he continued.
“Consignors now have a single place to go to — across all their auction locations and channels — to prove their policies to delete private data are being consistently applied. This is what mitigates their risk and sets us apart from alternative approaches,” Amico went on to say.
Matt Arias co-chairs the Standards Committee at the National Auto Auction Association (NAAA) and at IARA. Arias also serves as associate vice president of operations at America’s Auto Auction, which also recently announced a partnership with Privacy4Cars to offer consignors an extended warranty on their data deletion service to further limit their legal exposure from possible fines and lawsuits.
Arias said in this week’s news release that “being able to consistently, efficiently, and effectively help our consignors by leveraging Privacy4Cars will be that much more convenient with the AutoIMS integration. I can’t imagine an auction not using this solution.”
AutoIMS chief executive officer Venkat Krishnamoorthy offered this perspective about the new relationship with Privacy4Cars.
“Empowering the remarketing industry with better data is at the core of what we do,” Krishnamoorthy went on to say. “We are impressed by Privacy4Cars’ introduction of the first standard process to erase nonpublic personal information from the many thousands of different vehicle types that are consigned every day at auctions.
“As the industry-standard partner, it was an easy decision to add Privacy4Cars’ reports to our platform. Our clients now have measurable privacy protection metrics at their fingertips,” Krishnamoorthy went on to say.
America’s Auto Auction promoted a staff member at its facility in Virginia Beach, Va., as the location welcomes customers back for live sales and readies for an upswing in fleet and lease volumes following the slowdown stemming from the industry restrictions put in place to battle COVID-19.
According to a news release distributed on Tuesday, America’s announced that Amanda Kennedy has been named fleet/lease manager at America’s Virginia after most recently serving as fleet/lease coordinator.
“Amanda has proven herself to be an outstanding team player from the moment she came to work for us in 2016,” America’s Virginia general manager Jerry Daisey said in the release. “She brings tremendous enthusiasm to her work, along with great organizational skills and an outstanding work ethic that shows in everything she does. Her leadership and dedication have made a great impact on those she works with at the auction and on our customers as well.
“She has a great future in the business, and we are delighted to have her on board as our fleet/lease manager,” Daisey added.
A U.S. Army Reserve Veteran who served in the military police, Kennedy first joined the auction as a member of its security team. The company mentioned she quickly showed an affinity for auction operations, and learned the business from the ground up, handling responsibilities ranging from check-in, inventory and running lane control on sale day, to writing condition reports, managing the auction’s GSA account and assisting commercial customers as a fleet/lease coordinator.
“America’s Auto Auction’s success stems from the outstanding people at each location,” said Tammy Swofford, America’s national sales director. “There’s great strength derived from employees who come up through the ranks, and we are committed to promoting from within whenever possible.
“Amanda’s commitment, dedication and skill have been evident in every position she has held at America’s Virginia, and we know that she and the auction will continue to thrive as she pursues her new responsibilities as fleet/lease manager,” Swofford went on to say.
Kennedy shared her perspectives about her time with the auction and new role.
“The last four years with America’s Virginia have been exciting and challenging, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of my auction education as I have learned about the business working in different departments,” she said. “America’s commitment to quality and customer service is evident in every aspect of the business, and I’m proud not only to work in that kind of company culture but to represent that culture to our clients.
“The auction has returned to live selling every week, and we foresee big gains in our commercial volumes,” Kennedy continued. “I’m looking forward to helping to facilitate that growth among our fleet/lease accounts.”
America's Auto Auction Virginia is situated in southeast Virginia, serving dealers and institutional accounts the very best in quality services. The auction moved to a new, modern 72-acre home in May 2011.
Located near Norfolk International Airport, the intersection of Highways 64 and 264, and the freight harbors of Norfolk and Newport News, the auction welcomes more than 500 dealers to its weekly Wednesday sale and hosts a large audience both onsite and online.
Founded in 2005, America’s Auto Auction is the third-largest auto auction company in the United States with 23 locations.
Additional information about all of the America’s Auto Auction facilities can be found at www.americasautoauction.com.
On Tuesday, IAA made its third move during the past two weeks in connection with its operations in the United Kingdom.
The newest action is connected with IAA announcing that its U.K.-based business unit has completed the roll-out of IAA Buyer Portal, a new purpose-built and exclusive digital auction site designed to offer buyers an enhanced research, bidding and buying experience.
IAA highlighted the new Buyer Portal can give buying clients the ability to customize their research and streamline the vehicle buying process.
The platform introduces IAA Timed Auctions, a new bidding and buying channel, and will offer IAA 360 View, a merchandising feature that can provide buyers with in-depth vehicle information.
The company mentioned the IAA Buyer Portal is designed for any mobile device, providing buyers the flexibility to research, bid and buy in a manner convenient to them.
IAA Buyer Portal is the second of a two-phased technology roll-out in the UK. The new digital platform provides key features including:
— New, redesigned user interface
— Convenient homepage, including quick access to vehicle search, featured inventory and announcements
— Advanced Search feature, providing buyers with customization, filters, and categorization to make their research process simple and quick
— My Auction Centre dashboard, providing the ability to manage vehicles from one location, review purchase history, place vehicle bids and more.
“We are sharply focused on enhancing our business model in the UK while improving the customer experience,” said Steve Hankins, U.K. managing director for IAA. “As the second technology launch in the country this month, the launch of IAA Buyer Portal demonstrates how we are reshaping salvage management in the UK and creating value for our customers.”
Along with an initial technology announcement just before June closed, IAA’s recent string of actions in the United Kingdom also included the division’s rebranding.
For more information on IAA Buyer Portal, visit buyer.iaaiuk.co.uk.
In this episode of the Auto Remarketing Podcast, Cherokee Media Group president Bill Zadeits chats with Copart vice president and head of marketing Michelle Hoffman and Yoker Vidal, who is the senior director for Copart's non-insurance division.
They discuss how being online for 17 years helped the company once COVID-19 hit and how Copart has reached new clients in the remarketing space, even before the pandemic.
Plus, the Copart executives share what they're hearing from dealer customers in today's market.
To listen to the 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.
Auction Academy is carrying on with its training program, but participants will be relegated to computer screens for the remainder of the year.
Auction Academy president Penny Wanna announced on Monday that its current Class 6 Group will gather via a virtual classroom. Furthermore, the group’s previously scheduled quarterly meetings for 2020 are being replaced by monthly virtual sessions, which started on June 22.
Auction Academy also said in-person and on-site training and education sessions will resume in February.
“Due to the COVID19 Pandemic and its many effects on our daily lives, Auction Academy has made the difficult decision to not host any in-person sessions for the rest of 2020,” said Wanna, who notes that the change comes half-way through the class group’s original two-year course syllabus. “The remaining four sessions will be scheduled on a quarterly basis in 2021.”
Wanna reported that although students and staff will not meet in its traditional in-person format, Auction Academy is taking measures to continue the class group’s momentum, stay connected and provide the current students with a learning environment. A virtual schedule will include monthly interactive video sessions through the end of the year, which will alternate between a leadership focus and an industry topic.
“While we were all initially disappointed to cancel the in-person sessions, we have great expectations that the restructured virtual program will help fill the void and continue the all-important progress Class 6 has made in its training process,” Wanna said.
“At Auction Academy, we feel incredibly positive about our ability as a group and as an industry to be flexible, to adapt without pause and to rise to the challenge of showing our resilience,” she continued. “We have an excellent curriculum lined up through the second half of 2020, and will continue with quarterly in-person training next year, culminating in Class 6 Group’s rescheduled graduation in September of 2021 during the NAAA Convention in Chicago.
Auction Academy’s first virtual session convened on June 22, providing an opportunity for students and staff to reconnect as a group and to discuss in depth the details of the program going forward.
Monthly sessions beginning this month will lead off with a presentation by David Walsh of JM Family Enterprises, who will discuss leading during a pandemic. Successive months’ topics will include OSHA training, online sales processes and professional leadership training.
“Navigating life during the COVID-19 Pandemic is challenging on many fronts, and we are all working to persevere both personally and professionally,” Wanna said. “At Auction Academy we are privileged to work with some of the best and brightest presenters in the industry, and we are looking forward to continuing our association with them by means of a restructured virtual format until we can resume the regular curriculum in 2021.”
Auction Academy is a continuing education program developed by TPC Management Co. (TPC) for professionals in the auction industry. Auction Academy has developed two distinct curriculums, the first being the original two-year program which provides a training and development experience for auto auction professionals, structured like an Executive MBA program. The second curriculum is the newer Seminar Series, one-day intensive sessions focused on a specific topic or functional area.
With faculty drawn from expert practitioners around the country, Auction Academy’s programs are designed to enhance essential skill sets, promote best practices and yield better auction performance. The curriculum includes site visits, field trips and work with industry experts in all areas of auction operations.
For additional information about Auction Academy, contact Wanna by telephone at (615) 591-4544 or by email [email protected], or visit the website www.auctionacademy.net.
When you think of Carvana, you probably think of digital retail (and rightly so).
But the online used-car marketplace made a move last month that “lays the path for us to also be the leading online wholesaler,” says Scott Wood, the company’s senior director of wholesale operations.
In late June, Carvana announced that through a partnership with Manheim Digital, it launched an online wholesale platform, CarvanaACCESS, that allows dealers to buy wholesale vehicles directly from the company.
Carvana locations process consumer trade-ins and other wholesale units, which then go into a timed-bid auction on CarvanaACCESS.com.
CarvanaACCESS also stretches the company’s tentacles further into the wholesale market, aside from just the sales perspective.
“Beyond its usefulness as a direct wholesale marketplace, one of the finer points of launching CarvanaACCESS is that by utilizing the forum, it allows us to interact with the broad ecosystem of buyers,” Wood said in an emailed Q&A. “We can learn more about collaborating to make wholesale work better for everyone, whether that’s through technology, sale format and pricing plan experiments, transportation or whatever else is important to our buyers.
“In fact, we’ve already used the homepage to invite engagement by allowing users to opt in to a survey to let us know what they’re looking for in a digital marketplace and we’ve already gotten a great response. We hope to continue this kind of engagement and use those insights to drive wholesale innovation that benefits everyone,” he added.
One pain point in the wholesale process is often condition reports. Carvana is working through this by, “owning the report content rather than put a third party in between us and our buyers,” Wood said.
“It’s only fair since we own the cars and operate the marketplace,” he said.
“We exhibit that responsibility by employing Vehicle Condition Associates who go through comprehensive training before deploying technology to create the reports. It’s another area where we’ll stay engaged with buyers to make sure they have everything they need to comfortably buy online,” Wood said.
Auto Remarketing asked Wood what the breakdown would be in terms of Carvana's wholesale inventory going to physical auctions, CarvanaACCESS or other online avenues. The company’s wholesaling process stopped utilizing physical, in-lane sales years ago, Wood said, and is entirely digital, with the focus now centered on CarvanaACCESS.
“We’ve spent time refining our digital remarketing strategy and experimenting with platforms from various providers, each of which has unique features that are valuable to digital remarketers. Right now, we are coalescing around CarvanaACCESS and concentrating our inventory there,” Wood said.
“We stepped away from all physical, in-lane sales a few years ago, so no buyer will be able to access a Carvana unit, upstream or down, in a physical lane,” he said. “We are 100 percent digital via CarvanaACCESS; a natural path for Carvana considering that we’re a leading online auto retailer. CarvanaACCESS lays the path for us to also be the leading online wholesaler.”
As far as the platform itself, CarvanaACCESS is more comparable to an in-house direct-to-dealer online platform that a consignor might have than, say, a dealer-to-dealer platform like an ACV or TradeRev. Wood says more technology and “auction functionality” is on the way for CarvanaACCESS, as well.
“We’ll continue to deploy Carvana technology combined with auction functionality provided through our Manheim partnership, so CarvanaACCESS does act more like the branded stores that Manheim enables for OEMs, captive finance companies and others,” he said.
In terms of all the ancillary pieces required of wholesale transactions — processes like reconditioning, logistics and so forth — Carvana has made investments over the years to be able to take care of those items in house. That can help with efficiency, Wood said.
“Carvana is a vertically integrated business, so all of the investments in the logistics network, inspection and reconditioning centers, and market operations across the country are being leveraged to add efficiencies to our wholesale efforts,” Wood said. “Having those capabilities, while working cross functionally with other teams to keep everything in-house is a benefit other high-volume remarketers would likely appreciate. We certainly do.”
So where will these wholesale cars be processed and sold? Wood said that the company houses its wholesale operations at the Carvana inspection and reconditioning centers along with a few spots dedicated to logistics.
“Today, that gives us the ability to sell from more than 10 locations, nationwide. This structure meshes well with our digital approach since our team starts the remarketing process as soon as we get the vehicle grounded on any Carvana property,” he said. “By co-locating, we have access to the Carvana transportation network and reconditioning capabilities, both of which enable our wholesale velocity.
As of December, Carvana had seven inspection/recon centers, with two more on the way in the Richmond, Va., and Charlotte, N.C. areas.
Most of the cars for sale on CarvanaACCESS will be trade-ins or from the company’s consumer car-buying program, Wood said. There will also be some cars that Carvana buys but can’t retail due to its standards, he said.
While the industry has gone increasingly digital and certainly more so during COVID-19, as far as timing for CarvanaACCESS, planning began before the pandemic.
“With our multi-year record of online success as the highest volume seller on Manheim’s OVE, the addition of CarvanaACCESS was a natural next step that had been planned prior to the pandemic,” Wood said. “Of course, the auction’s move to all-digital and dealers’ need to pay even more attention to online sourcing were certainly elements of the successful launch.”
COVID-19 forced Manheim Pennsylvania to postpone its 75th anniversary activities, so Manheim’s flagship auction location found another reason to celebrate.
In a news release distributed late last week, Manheim highlighted record vehicle demand from dealers in June resulted in the Keystone State location selling more than 8,200 of the approximately 10,000 vehicles offered for sale digitally during the week ending June 19.
The company indicated this digital sales week beat last year’s combined physical and digital sales week by almost 900 vehicles.
Using Simulcast, OVE.com and Manheim Express, officials said nearly 9,000 dealer buyers participated virtually, showing dealers’ ability to keep their businesses forward by leveraging the digital wholesale marketplace.
“While we weren’t able to host our in-lane anniversary sale in March due to COVID-19, we could not be happier about meeting the demand from dealers for vehicles during this most recent week in June,” said Joey Hughes, vice president and general manager at Manheim Pennsylvania.
“Even though we could not physically greet and see our clients this week, we are excited about continuing to help them be successful,” Hughes continued in the news release.
Due to COVID-19, Manheim shifted its 76 sites in the U.S. from physical to Simulcast-only sales beginning on March 16. This included closing all locations to clients and operating with limited staffing based on local and state directives.
To assist dealers during this time, Manheim recapped that it waived all Simulcast buy and sell fees and continues to do so today, and 90% of Manheim sites now offer clients the ability to preview inventory onsite.
Earlier this month, the company allowed sellers to represent vehicles on the block and piloted in-lane bidding at five of its sites beginning the week of June 22. Both decisions were made after establishing strict safety protocols based on COVID-19 guidance.
While in-lane physical sales with vehicle running down the lanes have halted, Manheim pointed out that used-vehicle demand is strong and dealers buying vehicles digitally has soared. This is evidenced by Simulcast participation nearly tripling since early April, Simulcast attendance hitting approximately 20,000 attendees each day starting in mid-June and experiencing an 81% increase in OVE.com sales in one week.
In addition, the company experienced approximately 1 million digital transactions from January through May, weeks ahead of the same time last year.
“We realize that moving to an all-digital format was a significant adjustment for our clients,” Manheim president Grace Huang said in the news release.
Our clients have shown great resiliency, resourcefulness and an ability to overcome challenges, and we thank them for their patience and support as we work together to keep our businesses moving forward in the safest way possible," Huang went on to say.
Black Book analysts made the connection of how federal stimulus payments and enhanced unemployment benefits given during April and May combined with limited used-vehicle inventory combined to create the highest weekly appreciation “in recent history.”
According to Black Book’s newest COVID-19 Market Update released on Tuesday, overall car and truck segments values both generated gains for the fourth week in a row, increasing 1.27% overall.
Black Book’s volume-weighted pricing information for both cars and trucks revealed value hikes last week much higher than a week earlier. Analysts said overall car segments increased by 1.54% (compared to 0.88% the prior week) and the overall trucks and SUV segments increased again this past week at 1.11% (compared to 0.52% during the prior week).
Specific vehicle segments generating the highest value increases included compact cars (up 2.29%) and small pickups (up 2.89%).
“Both the small pickup and compact car segments experienced very large depreciations at the onset of the pandemic but have been consistent in the rebounding of prices week after week,” analysts said in the latest update.
“Minivans also had a second week of increasing prices at 2% after 11 consecutive weeks of declines,” Black Book added.
Despite the value increases, Black Book described auction activity this past week as “on fire” with high conversion rates and high sale prices.
“Most no-sales this past week were the result of sellers holding firm to floors and not due to a lack of demand by the buyers. As a result, buyers are having to pay top dollar to secure quality inventory,” analysts said.
Meanwhile, Black Book highlighted that dealers are enjoying strong used-vehicle sales overall so far this month. However, the success of retailing those used vehicles is creating problems for managers in finding replenishment inventory.
“The lack of repossessions, delayed lease returns and staffing limitations at the auctions are all contributing to low inventory levels at the auctions,” analysts said. “The estimation is that it will be at least two more weeks before we start to see an increase at many auctions around the country.”
Black Book then addressed what could be a path of quality used-vehicle inventory — rental risk units. But just like so many other business tasks during the coronavirus pandemic, getting those vehicles through the wholesale industry is easier said than done.
“Although we see some recovery in rental demand (outside of airport business), we measured a substantial increase (compared to previous weeks and compared to last year) in volume of rental units sold, as rental fleet companies are beginning to de-fleet and reduce their fleets to match much weaker consumer and business traveler demand,” Black Book said.
“As the supply continues to grow, we are concerned with the throughput at major auctions as they continue to operate with reduced staff,” analysts continued. “In our continuous conversations with management teams from major auction chains, they report that they are trying to execute on the increased volume and customer demand without immediately bringing back significant amounts of furloughed staff.
“There is a concern that this uptick may be short-lived and the need for increased staff may be temporary,” Black Book added.
Auto auctions sold slightly fewer cars last year, but the gross value of those sales was up more than 3% and topped $111 billion, according to the National Auto Auction Association’s 23rd annual survey, which was released Friday.
NAAA-member auctions sold 9.8 million vehicles in 2019, which was down 1.1% year-over-year.
But the total value of those cars was $111.1 billion, up 3.3%, according to survey, which was conducted by Robert A. Casey Consulting on behalf of NAAA.
Average per-unit prices on those vehicles were up 4.4%. There were 16.5 million vehicles that entered auctions last year, which was down 0.6%.
"The 2019 results are encouraging,” NAAA chief executive officer Frank Hackett said in a news release. “The survey results show the strength and depth of a mature industry that has demonstrated its resiliency
“I am confident we'll continue to be a vital and growing part of our nation's economy for years to come,” Hackett said.
Among those 9.8 million vehicles sold by NAAA auctions, the consignment type with the largest share of sales was finance and fleet (47.3%), which includes lease, fleet and repo units.
Dealer consignment was close behind at 47.1%. Just over 5% came from OEMs, and 0.5% were via other sources.
On average, an NAAA-member auction has an eight-lane facility on 78 acres. Average employment was 137 people and an average payroll of $4.8 million. The average auction contributes $13,900 to charity each year.
The National Auto Auction Association named its two newest Warren Young Fellows on Friday; an honor that recognizes their noteworthy contributions to NAAA's auction safety initiatives.
The latest two wholesale executives to be given this accolade are Tim Massingale, KAR remarketing services vice president of environmental safety and health, and Mike Roy, vice president of auto auction practice for Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services.
NAAA, which represents about 350 wholesale auto auctions and more than 140 associate members, gave the award with a $2,500 donation in each of their names to NAAA's nonprofit Warren Young Scholastic Foundation. A fellow is a donor at that level, or in whose honor or memory a contribution is made in that amount, to support the scholarship organization.
Massingale and Roy join an exclusive group of 122 others who have attained the lifetime distinction of being named a fellow. They each received a gold medallion, a framed commemorative certificate and will have their names engraved on a plaque of esteemed fellows at NAAA headquarters.
Since its establishment in 2004, the Scholastic Foundation, named in honor of Warren Young, Sr., a pioneer of the auto auction industry who retired after 35 years of service to his profession and NAAA, has helped 180 students pursue dreams of higher education and raised more than $2.5 million. It awards $52,000 in merit scholarships annually for study at accredited institutions.
NAAA highlighted both Massingale and Roy played important roles in the timely creation and distribution of the NAAA Auction Start-up Playbook in Response to COVID-19 as a resource to help auctions resume operations safely in the post-pandemic world, according to NAAA president Laura Taylor in her presentation.
The 18-page guide, along with a special three-page addendum focused just on disinfecting and deep cleaning, provides checklists, diagrams, plans, and other material for implementing safety protocols that reduce the risk of exposure to infectious disease in the workplace.
Taylor praised the new fellows for their efforts in rolling out the Playbook to “safeguard auction employees, customers, contractors, their families and communities” during the pandemic.
“In addition, Tim and Mike have been involved in promoting greater safety awareness and accident prevention at auctions as active members of NAAA's Safety Committee,” Taylor said. “They’ve made presentations at our safety summits, participated in the Safe T. Sam program, written articles for NAAA’s On The Block magazine and joined many conference calls to keep improving what we're doing to make our auctions a safer place to work and do business.
“Their ongoing dedication and valuable input to achieve that goal is why we recognize them today,” Taylor added.
