Mobile wholesale marketplace ACV Auctions on Monday announced an expansion into eight new markets.
Building on the half dozen ACV already occupied, the company now has a presence in:
—Southern New Jersey
—Roanoke, Va.
—Hartford, Conn.
—Boston
—Cincinnati
—Louisville, Ky.
—Nashville, Tenn.
—Charlotte, N.C.
The push builds on ACV’s existing operations in other U.S. markets, including: all of Upstate New York, Western Massachusetts, Pittsburgh, Northern New Jersey, Northeast Ohio and Washington D.C.
In preparation for its ongoing expansion, ACV also announced plans to hire more than 100 employees in these new markets and within its headquarters in Buffalo, N.Y. To help bolster hiring across all job categories, ACV on Monday released its first recruitment video, which highlights the company’s position in the online auto auction space. The video can be viewed at the top of this page or by going here.
“With this video, we are broadcasting that we are hiring competitive people to be part of our fast growing team. If you have a passion for cars and a true desire to win, grow and excel, we want to hear from you,” said ACV Auctions chief executive officer George Chamoun.
Chamoun emphasized the hiring push is being driven almost exclusively by ACV’s accelerated growth.
“To keep up with demand and keep serving our customers well, we need to continually grow our team,” Chamoun said. “We are aggressively investing in the best people we can find.”
ACV’s advanced mobile platform can enable dealers to view, bid and purchase used car inventory via online auctions. Dealers can select the type of vehicle they wish to purchase and ACV sends an alert to the dealer’s mobile phone when vehicles become available and a live auction follows.
Auctions are conducted from dealer lots and last just 20 minutes.
ACV’s end-to-end solution includes a detailed condition report. Additionally, the ACV app handles payments, title transfers and transportation arrangements for purchased vehicles.
Speed Digital announced it will partner with HemmingsPRO Auctions to host a battle more than 50 years in the making: Mustangs versus Camaros.
On May 26, the new partners will bring collectors and enthusiasts a Mustangs versus Camaros sale, the first of a series of monthly themed, timed online auctions.
This event will help settle the long-standing rivalry between the two sporsts car brands and determine which American classic is truly most popular, Speed Digital said.
"We look forward to bringing this unique auction format to millions of Mustang and Camaro fans," Speed Digital president Neil Pitt said in a news release. "It will be exciting to see which fan base has a stronger showing. Will a Mustang or Camaro bring in the highest winning bid? Will more Mustangs find new homes or will it be Camaros? Only time will tell, but it will be fun to watch it all unfold on May 26."
Mustangs and Camaros from 1964 to 2017 will be included in the auction and all inventory will be provided by dealers within Speed Digital's Dealer Accelerate network.
Interested buyers can currently bid at hemmings.speeddigital.com. The timed online auction will close on the night of May 26.
During the live auction, a 2017 Petty's Garage King Premier Edition Mustang powered by a 5.0L V-8 engine producing 825 HP will be auctioned off at 7 p.m.
The customized car signed by Richard Petty himself comes in the Petty's Garage signature limited "ghost series" black and silver paint scheme. According to Speed Digital, the proceeds from the sale of the car will go to charity.
"The Petty's Garage Mustang won't be the only vehicle drawing interest during the Mustangs vs. Camaros online auction. You would be hard-pressed to find more premier Mustangs and Camaros in another auction," Speed Digital added. "Two of the most sought-after vehicles that will have bidders reaching for their wallets include a 1969 Ford Mustang estimated to go between $236,000 and $355,000 at the auction and a 2015 Chevrolet Camaro COPO."
Other sought after cars include the 1968 Shelby GT500, the 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 and the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS, which are estimated to go for $133,000 to $187,000, $99,000 to $134,000 and $90,000 to $122,000, respectively, according to Speed Digital.
For more information about the upcoming auction email [email protected] or visit hemmings.speeddigital.com.
Copart recently announced the launch of its upcoming fourth annual Copart Rebuild Challenge, a contest where U.S. car enthusiasts and automotive rebuilders competitively demonstrate how they’ve restored, customized or rebuilt a vehicle of their choice.
"Every year, the contest draws more anticipation. Since last year's contest concluded, aspiring contestants have been asking when the Rebuild Challenge will be returning, and I'm thrilled to finally be able to say it's back and open for entries," Copart vice president of marketing Michelle Hoffman said in a news release.
Up to July 11, contestants can enter the challenge by submitting before-and-after photos of their chosen project to Copart.com/Rebuild. Each entry should include a caption with a brief description of the rebuild project, the online vehicle auction company said.
Contestants have the option to share their submissions on social media by using the hashtag "#CopartContest."
Additionally, Copart said contestants must also register for free membership to enter the contest. Membership can be obtained through the online registration form available at Copart.com/Register.
Following the entry period ending mid-July, a panel of Copart's in-house judges will choose 10 finalists. On July 18 public voting will begin to determine three winners who will be awarded a cash prize, according to Copart.
Third place will receive $1,000, second place will receive $2,000, and the grand prize winner will be awarded $5,000.
"Any enthusiast or rebuilder can find what they need in Copart's inventory of more than 125,000 vehicles," Hoffman said. "Thousands of muscle cars, classics, exotics and more are available to Copart members every day."
For more details about the Copart Rebuild Challenge contest visit, Copart.com/Rebuild.
Late-model auction sales volume in the first third of the year is still up 7 percent, but it slowed last month.
According to the Used-Car Light Truck Guidelines report from J.D. Power Valuation Services, there were 244,381 auction sales of late-model vehicles in April.
That’s down 7 percent month-over-month and off 1 percent year-over-year.
That said, there have been 955,447 late-model auction sales year-to-date through April, which is up 7 percent, J.D. Power said.
Leading that crowd is the midsize car segment. Its late-model volume is at 179,500 units year-to-date, an 8-percent increase.
Compact utilities (141,800), compact cars (131,600) and midsize utilities (103,400) are also above the 100,000-unit auction sales threshold for the year.
The biggest increase through four months has been the luxury compact utility vehicle, whose late-model auction sales volume is up 51 percent at 12,600 units, according to J.D. Power.
Midsize pickups are also a high-riser in the late-model sector, with auction sales (8,800) up 43 percent through four months.
Luxury midsize cars (down 27 percent) have shown the highest decrease in year-to-date auction sales volume of late-model vehicles, followed by subcompact cars (12 percent), luxury compact cars (11 percent), large cars (10 percent) and compact cars (4 percent).
All other segments are up.
Late-model units are those 3 years or younger.
As far as auction sales volume of vehicles up to 8 years in age (for the month of April alone), that figure was relatively steady year-over-year at and down 8 percent month-over-month at 366,909 units, J.D. Power said.
The combination of price movements and softening lane activity means one thing, according to Black Book. The spring market appears to have fully bloomed.
The latest Black Book Market Insights report showed both car and truck segments seeing higher depreciation than the last several weeks, both dropping 20 percent and 25 percent in value, respectively. Editors indicated this level of weekly depreciation most likely signals the end of the spring season.
“Spring market buying appears to have slowed as market values continue their slide with normal depreciation across most segments,” said Anil Goyal, senior vice president of automotive valuation and analytics at Black Book.
Based on volume-weighted data, editors noted overall car segment values decreased by 0.25 percent last week, worse than the average weekly increase of 0.06 percent in values over the previous six weeks.
Black Book mentioned the prestige luxury car, midsize car and sub-compact car segments declined the most by 0.55 percent, 0.49 percent and 0.41 percent, respectively.
Again looking at volume-weighted information, editors determined that overall truck segment values (including pickup, SUVs and vans) dropped by 0.20 percent last week after producing a nearly flat market during the previous six weeks.
Editors noticed the compact van segment was the only light truck segment to see a moderate increase in values, ticking up by 0.24 percent.
And while the raw numbers showed the likely end of the spring market, Black Book representatives in the lanes at about 60 auctions nationwide reported back with anecdotes about what dealers and consignors are encountering.
One report said, “An auction manager in Florida says his dealers are reporting weak retail, which means fewer trade-ins. The trade-ins that they do get will stay on their lots and not make it to auction.”
Up Illinois, the recap offered a consignor’s perspective, which said, “A large national remarketer here says that his inventory is low and stable values reflect the shortage. He may start running every other week instead of weekly due to the low supply.”
And in three other states, slowing retail movement at dealer showrooms evidently is prompting used-car managers to let units roll over the block without the hammer coming down.
From Tennessee: “Dealers are cutting their late model used vehicle prices on their lots in order to compete with the numerous new-car incentives.”
From South Carolina: “Dealers' interest in buying was noticeably lower today compared to the last couple of months. More vehicles with damage and high mileage showed up.”
From Michigan: “Both bidding and sales are slow here this week. Retail activity continues to be sub-par here also.”
A fifth person has died from a crash earlier this month at Lynnway Auto Auction in Billerica, Mass.
In a statement released on Saturday evening, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Billerica Chief of Police Daniel Rosa said Ruben Espaillat, 55, died Saturday at Lahey Hospital.
The DA’s office, Billerica Police and the Massachusetts State Police CARS unit continue to investigate the crash, according to officials.
The fatal vehicle crash at the auction occurred the morning of May 3.
The DA’s office indicated that a male Lynnway Auto Auction employee in his 70s was driving a 2006 Jeep at 10:13 a.m. (ET) during the auction's weekly sale when the vehicle accelerated through a wall at the auction and hit multiple people.
Brenda Lopez, 48, and Pantaleon Santos, 49, were pronounced dead at the scene. Leezandra Aponte, 36, died from her injuries after being transported to a local hospital.
Last Wednesday, the DA and Billerica Chief of Police said that Elliott Rowlands Jr., 50, who had remained hospitalized, died at Lahey Clinic following injuries from the crash.
KAR Auction Services reported a 14-percent year-over-year increase in first-quarter net income, pulling in $69.2 million, with operating revenues climbing from $758.2 million to $866.6 million.
“Our first quarter 2017 results reflect a solid start to the year with contributions from across our diversified platform of businesses,” KAR chairman and chief executive officer Jim Hallett said in Tuesday’s earnings release.
“We are well-positioned for continued growth, and our development and acquisition of new capabilities like DRIVIN will enhance the products, services and value we deliver to our customers.”
The company’s busy acquisition activity over the past year certainly seems to be benefiting the ADESA auction arm of its business. Its physical auctions sold 603,000 units during the quarter, which is up 17 percent from Q1 2016, but static when acquisitions are excluded.
KAR announced ADESA’s acquisition of the Brasher’s auctions in February 2016, a deal that closed at the end of that quarter. ADESA also bought Sanford Auto Dealers Exchange and Flint Auto Auction in 2016.
ADESA’s online-only volume in Q1 was at 215,000 units, up from 188,000 in the same period of 2016.
ADESA reported revenue of $498 million, up from $414.8 million in Q1 2016. Gross profits were at $207.1 million, up from $176.4 million.
The Insurance Auto Auctions business unit of KAR increased revenue from $269.6 million to $297.4 million, with AFC dipping from $73.9 million to $71.2 million.
As vehicle values remained relatively steady, multiple Black Book representatives walking the lanes with dealers last week noticed consignment volume softened.
Before going into those observations, here are the numbers from the latest Black Book Market Insights report. Editors indicated car segments decreased value slightly last week, but overall both cars and trucks held fairly steady.
Out of both car and truck segments, Black Book noted compact vans performed the strongest, increasing in value by 0.89 percent.
According to volume-weighted information, editors computed overall car segment values decreased by 0.27 percent last week. In comparison, the market values had increased on average by 0.14 percent per week in the previous four weeks.
Within car segments, Black Book found that compact car and midsize car segments performed the worst, dropping by 0.89 percent and 0.44 percent, respectively.
Again looking at volume-weighted data, editors determined overall truck segment values — including pickups, SUVs and vans — increased by 0.10 percent last week, better than the average increase of 0.02 percent per week in the previous four weeks.
“The wholesale market held steady last week with stable values across most segments. Auction consignments were reported to be low for this time of the year,” said Anil Goyal, senior vice president of automotive valuation and analytics.
The consignment discussion came from Black Book representatives stationed throughout the country. Let’s start in the East and move to the West.
—From Pennsylvania: “Consignment was down a bit. Rental returns along with repos and lease returns dominated the auction. There were more bidder badges issued than normal.”
—From Indiana: “A good sale but consignment is still down. Nice, used vehicles are scarce, so the prices should remain strong on the clean and extra clean units.”
—From Washington: “Low number of consigned vehicles and a lot of high mileage or damaged vehicles. Even so prices were steady or even up slightly.”
While not mentioning dealer consignment, Black Book’s other two lane watchers to report back to headquarters had these observations:
—Out of Arizona: “Two good auctions here this week. Cars and trucks were bringing all the money.”
—Out of Michigan: “Late model year trucks with average or fewer miles are doing very well. The money on those units remains strong.”
Last week, Southeastern Auto Auction of Savannah hosted its annual Masters Sale and golf tournament, which is named after The Masters golf tournament that is held in Augusta, Ga., just a few hours away from the auction.
This year’s Masters Sale featured over 800 vehicles, and by the end of the sales event, the auction gave away over $2,500 in cash prizes, according to SAA.
To wrap up the sale, dealers were selected to putt on the auction’s putting green for a chance to win up to $1,000.
The day following the sale, the auction’s golf tournament featured a record number of teams as well as a $25,000 hole-in-one challenge and longest drive contest.
Additionally, from hole sponsorship funds for the event, the auction raised a donation of $3,000 to present Shriners Hospital for Children following the tournament.
“It was a great week! We sold a lot of cars, had beautiful weather for the sale and golf tournament, and raised money for Children in need,” SAA vice president Bill McCready said in a news release.
Carriage Trade AA turns 40
Carriage Trade Public Auto Auction will host its 40th-anniversary sale on May 22, which will feature an estimated 1,000 vehicles along with a number of prizes and giveaways, the auction recently announced.
“We’re excited about this milestone anniversary and are looking forward to celebrating with the people that have made it possible, our customers and our employees,” Carriage Trade general manager Brian McNally said in a news release.
In May of 1977, Carriage Trade held its first sale with a total of just 35 vehicles, the auction said.
Currently, the auction sells on average about 500 cars each week, according to Carriage Trade.
For more details about the auction's sale, visit www.carriagetrade.com.
DAA Northwest recently announced that Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Lynyrd Skynyrd will take the DAA stage on July 19 for the auction's 22nd annual Rock & Roll Sale.
“Each year, we put a lot of thought into bringing in a headliner that will be a great fit with our customers. Judging from the smiles on faces in our lanes last Thursday, Lynyrd Skynyrd fits the bill,” Bob McConkey, president of the McConkey Auction Group, said in a news release.
“This event gives us all a chance to gather together to celebrate the things we love – cars, friends and rock & roll!”
DAA first announced Lynyrd Skynyrd would headline the annual event during the auction's NASCAR Days sale on April 20.
Following the year McConkey invited Jerry Lee Lewis for DAA Northwest’s first Rock & Roll event to commemorate a move to a new facility in July of 1992, “customers immediately began asking McConkey, ‘Who are you going to have next year?’ It was clear the Rock & Roll Sale needed to be an annual event,” the auction said.
DAA Northwest has since hosted artists such as Chuck Berry, Heart, The Doobie Brothers, Pat Benatar, Chicago and a number of other international headliners.
“We host promotions every month, but the Rock & Roll Sale is definitely our signature event,” McConkey added.
The auction said Lynyrd Skynyrd is a cultural icon that appeals to multiple generations, and their hit song “Sweet Home Alabama,” which became a classic American rock anthem, has sold over two million ringtones.
The Southern rock band has a catalog of over 60 albums and has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, according to DAA.
Additionally, more than 5,000 cars, trucks and bikes will also be featured during DAA’s annual sale and the event wraps up with over $30,000 in prizes.
