To support its efforts to drive future region growth, Manheim this week announced general manager appointments in three locations: J.D. Guerrero at Manheim El Paso, Heath Sanderson at Manheim Birmingham and Steve Robinson at Manheim Omaha.
“With significant leadership experience in our organization, these new general managers will help us deliver an outstanding experience at their respective locations,” said Barry Roop, regional vice president for local west at Manheim. “Their passion for the business, our clients and insights for our brand are a vital part of our long-term success.”
Guerrero began his career with Cox Automotive as a Manheim field sales representative in 2010 and has since worked in progressive leadership roles with both the U.S. and International markets. Most recently, he was the DealShield sales manager for the Southeast and Midwest regions.
In his role as general manager at Manheim El Paso, the company said Guerrero will use his diverse experience to increase business growth and focus on delivering solutions that help buyers and sellers increase their sales velocity.
Sanderson joined Manheim in 2011 and has grown from an operations leadership role to branch manager before being named as assistant general manager at Manheim Birmingham in 2014. His success in that role led him to be promoted to general manager at the Birmingham location this year.
Manheim highlighted Sanderson’s years of experience in sales and operations will enable him to continue leading the Manheim Birmingham team on their quest to operate efficiently while further expanding its dealer presence in the Birmingham market.
In 1998, Robinson began his career with Manheim at the Atlanta location. Throughout his 20 years with the company, he has held a variety of roles such as commercial manager, assistant general manager and general sales manager across several Manheim locations, including those in Atlanta, Harrisonburg, Miss., Statesville, N.C., and the Mid-Atlantic sales region.
As general manager, Manheim said Robinson will focus on delivering added value to local clients and contributing to the brand’s end-to-end remarketing services.
It’s been about two weeks since the Internal Revenue Service started to release refunds, and the impact appears to be making its way to the auction lanes.
The latest Black Book Market Insights report indicated small cars and crossovers performing better than luxury vehicles in the car segment. But overall, editors noticed vehicles in the truck segment are still retaining their values better with three segments increasing their value as much as 0.42 percent.
“Small cars and crossovers performed the best among all segments last week, driven by higher interest from tax season buyers,” said Anil Goyal, Black Book’s senior vice president of automotive valuation and analytics.
When reviewing volume-weighted data, Black Book reported overall car segment values decreased by 0.54 percent last week, higher than the depreciation rate of 0.37 percent seen in the previous four weeks.
Editors found that prestige luxury car, luxury car and near luxury car segments declined the most by 0.91 percent, 0.80 percent and 0.56 percent, respectively.
Again looking at volume-weighted information, Black Book determined overall truck segment values — including pickups, SUVs and vans — dropped by 0.48 percent last week, higher than the depreciation rate of 0.28 percent spotted during the previous four weeks.
Editors said minivan, compact luxury crossover/SUV and full-size van segments declined the most by 0.72 percent, 0.69 percent and 0.63 percent, respectively.
Turning next to what Black Book representatives noticed when walking the lanes at about 60 auctions last week, they reported back more sentiments about tax season.
Down in South Carolina, the watcher reported, “Good day at the auction with plenty of consignment and good attendance. Sales were still a bit slow, but tax-time cars were selling well.”
In nearby Tennessee, a similar story played out as Black Book’s representative said, “Sunny and slow today. Retail market isn’t as good as some would like, but it is picking up.”
The pace of sales was modest in a couple of other locations, too. Black Book’s lane observer in Florida said, “There were a lot of vehicles and buyers here today, but sales were not strong.” And up in Illinois, the report was, “Vehicle sales today were around 50 percent with what sold bringing good money. Higher-mile, full-size sport utilities did not sell well today.”
The remaining two Black Book auction observations offered some clarity about what other units are bringing out the auctioneer’s hammer.
In Ohio, “Cloudy today but over positive sentiment towards the market. Sedans, SUVs and trucks all selling well here.” And from California, “Interesting array of vehicles here today, many luxury brands across to hybrid models.”
Copart announced it recently opened a new location in Alton, Ill., the company’s fifth in Illinois.
"The opening of this location in southern Illinois addresses our increasing volume, which has been driven by both organic growth in the industry and market wins," Jay Adair, chief executive officer of Copart, said in a news release. "Furthermore, it gives us the capacity for continued expansion in the St. Louis region."
The southern Illinois location hosts online sales on Wednesdays at noon.
Vehicles may be previewed in person Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
The facility is located at 99 Racehorse Drive, and the general manager is Andrew Kaufman.
Auctions are hosted on Copart.com. More Information about the new location's auctions can be found here.
Additionally, select Copart Midwest locations have served as safe environments for fire department training.
Local fire departments, law enforcement and similar government agencies are encouraged to contact the general manager of any Copart location for information about conducting training at Copart.
Auction technology provider Xcira recently announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued the company a new patent that addresses a bidder actively participating in or monitoring multiple simultaneous auction events.
The new patent is the company's 12th that is devoted to inventions relating to online bidding, inspection systems, real-time audio and video distribution, and remote consignor representation.
Xcira said it also has other utility patent applications pending it expects will be issued soon.
Last year, the company’s auction software was used by customers in seven different auction segments and 23 countries.
Highlights of the year include a total of 37,650 auction events, 15.5 million online bids, and 6.3 million items offered for sale to online buyers, representing more than $23.3 billion, according to Xcira.
Additionally, the company awarded an estimated 1 million items to online bidders, a value of more than $5.2 billion.
“Xcira presents a very unique blend of innovation coupled with enterprise-level reliability, performance and scalability," chief executive officer Nancy Rabenold said in a news release. “The Xcira team works hard to deliver quality economies-of-scale by providing state-of-the-art, affordable services to auction segments around the world.”
Since Xcira’s inception in 1996, 36.7 million items have been offered for sale to online buyers, a value of more than $250 billion.
The deadline to opt into Auto Remarketing's Auto Auctions to Work For program is Friday.
For individual auction locations to participate, the general manager/leader of that auction needs to opt in at this website by Friday.
Here are the details:
What is it?
A free workplace study for the auto auction industry that will recognize the best auto auctions to work for (on an unranked basis).
It is designed and intended for individual auction locations — no corporate or HQ offices; just individual auction locations.
It is absolutely free/no charge for auctions to participate.
Winners will be recognized in the Sept. 15 edition of Auto Remarketing and at the National Remarketing Conference/NAAA Convention during Used Car Week.
Who is conducting the study?
Auto Remarketing, teaming with Best Companies Group in Pennsylvania, is underwriting the study.
However, the study will be managed by, and data analyzed 100 percent, by the staff of Best Companies Group (BCG).
Best Companies Group will directly administer all of the surveys and manage/analyze all of the data and information. No input from Auto Remarketing staff.
How are auctions chosen?
The Best Companies Group will analyze the data from the group of auctions choosing to participate and develop metrics and standards based on that data to determine which auctions are named to the list of Best Auto Auctions to Work For.
It’s either pass or fail, and ONLY those auctions that pass will be included in results. Auto Remarketing will NOT publish information on auctions that participate and do not meet the criteria required. And, again, there are no rankings.
What are the benefits for participating
Participation and earned recognition can impact general marketing, recruiting and promoting your brand as an employer. It can lead to applications climbing and turnover dropping, and offers participants a chance to better understand the viewpoint of your employees and see how you stack up against your peers.
There is also an opportunity to purchase the full “BCG Employee Feedback Report” that outlines metrics like key confidential feedback and benchmarking data.
Can auctions who participated last year participate again? Even if they were winners?
Yes. All auctions who participated last year — whether they were selected as an award recipient or not — can participate again this year
If an auction participated last year, do it need to opt in again?
Yes. Even if an auction participated last year, it will need to opt in again this year
Alright, I’m in. What do I need to do to participate?
Again, for individual auction locations to participate, the general manager/leader of that auction needs to opt in at this website by April 21.
Registration is now open.More information and answers to many of your questions can also be found at www.bestautoauctionstoworkfor.com.
Auto Remarketing and its print, digital, email and social media channels will be keeping you posted as this project progresses.
But for now, if you are an auction GM, make sure your auction has what it needs to participate by registering here by April 21.
If you have a question about Best Auto Auctions to Work For, contact Mor Aframian at [email protected] or (800) 608-7500, ext. 126.
Auto Remarketing's 2016 Best Auto Auctions to Work For issue can be viewed here.
Manheim called it a “good year” for its digital channels after the company reviewed its 2016 performance and found that the average year-over-year growth in each of its Digital Marketplace categories came in at 15 percent or more.
Officials said OVE (Manheim’s online wholesale marketplace) reached an all-time 2.5 million vehicle sold since it was launched in 2006, and, in 2016, OVE showed a record 378,000 vehicles sold.
Manheim mentioned other highlights include a record number of average monthly digital users, total bids, online and mobile site visits as well as total digital transactions. Here are the specifics:
• Record sales on OVE: There were a record 378,000 vehicles sold via OVE this past year, bringing the total number of sales to 2.5 million since the online wholesale marketplace launched in 2011.
• Simulcast is selling: Auction attendance via Simulcast averaged 139,000 users monthly in 2016, with 50 percent of auction sale attendance participating via the online auction platform. This shows a significant increase in active dealers who are eager to experience live sales and buy or sell remotely in real time.
• Total visits and bids are up: Online and mobile engagement continue its upward trend with an increase in total visits and bids in Manheim’s Digital Channels. There were more than 12 million total bids conducted through all of the company’s digital channels for an 18 percent year-over-year increase compared to 2015. More than 75 million total visitors visited the Manheim mobile site and apps, representing a 15 percent year-over-year increase.
“Response to the suite of digital tools we’ve created was overwhelmingly positive in 2016, which strengthens our resolve to keep delivering solutions that help dealers move their inventory effectively and efficiently,” said Derek Hansen, Manheim’s vice president of digital solutions.
“Seeing a 22-percent year-over-year increase in total transactions through our digital channels underscores the good work our team is doing to make the wholesale buying and selling process easier for dealers,” Hansen added.
Dealers Auto Auction of the Southwest (DAASW) recently introduced digital bidder badges that are powered through its mobile app.
The independent auction’s new innovative badges are a first in the nation concept, according to Jim DesRochers, former National Auto Auction Association president.
“We have always felt that standing in line for a paper badge or in line at a faceless kiosk was not the dealer friendly way to enter the auction,” DesRochers said in a news release.
“Our digital badges, recognizes you as you enter, assigns you a badge which you can show to our staff anywhere as you walk in and to the ring men when you buy a unit.”
DAASW developed the digital bidder badges along with Peter Levy and his company, IAS, according to DesRochers.
Additionally, for added access, the digital badges can be opened in Apple and Google wallet.
The DAASW app is available for Apple and Android devices.
All but two of the seats of ServNet's board of directors are filled by next-generation auction owners.
First-generation owners Kevin Brown of Missouri Auto Auction and Patty Stanley of Indiana and Carolina Auto Auctions lead the board.
“The remaining five seats are filled by owners who have followed their parents into the auction business and have developed into strong, capable, visionary leaders in their own right,” ServNet said in a press release.
Board members of the next generation include: Eric Autenrieth of Carolina Auto Auction, Beth Barber of State Line Auto Auction, Steve DeLuca of Auto Auction of New England, Ashley Dietze of San Antonio Auto Auction, and Rob Thompson of Mid-State Auto Auction.
Autenrieth is currently ServNet's vice president/treasurer and is set to take the reins as president in 2018
"My parents set the bar high," Autenrieth said. "They have built two great auctions, and have made tremendous contributions to the auction industry. I grew up watching them work and serve, and have been inspired by all they do. What an opportunity and a privilege it is to follow them in this great industry and in a dynamic family business."
Barber is one of the newest members of ServNet's board. She learned various aspects of auction operations accompanying her father, Jeff Barber, at State Line, where she grew up spending her summers. Currently, Barber focuses on auction administration and her responsibilities include payroll, accounting and employee training.
"I love the auction business, and am excited to participate on an industry level," Beth Barber said.
Barber asserts that the next generation brings fresh eyes and a different perspective to the board, ServNet said.
"We have witnessed first-hand the hard work and sacrifices our parents have made to build successful businesses. We are determined to carry on what they have started, to continue to prosper, to be innovative and to grow in a sustainable way," Barber added.
DeLuca, the general manager at Auto Auction of New England in Londonderry, N.H., is one of the youngest general managers of a major auction facility.
At 12 years old, DeLuca began working within the auction industry part time and during summers. He was named one of Auto Remarketing's 40 Under 40 for 2015 in recognition of industry and community leadership.
Currently, DeLuca serves as president-elect of the Easter Chapter of the National Auto Auction Association.
Dietze serves as fleet/lease manager at San Antonio Auto Auction and she is the daughter of Walker Auction Group founder Wade Walker. She began working in the family business at a young age. Dietze made her mark on the industry in 2010, when the Walker Auction Group launched an operation in San Antonio, according to ServNet.
"Working in a family owned business is an absolute blessing," said Dietze. "I'm not only surrounded by my parents, but I get to work with my husband, my brother and my sister, along with countless employees that I consider family as well. While some might think working in a family business to be a walk in the park, I demand a lot from myself because it's so much more than just a job. I want to do my absolute best to build on my parents' legacy, to honor their ethics and values, and ensure the continued success of our auctions."
Thompson, a second-generation owner of Mid-State Auto Auction, joined his father in the business after graduating from college in 1986. He assumed his role sole owner two years ago following his father’s retirement. Thompson credits his father with extraordinary business acumen in building a thriving business which currently operates as an ultra-modern, four-lane facility, ServNet said.
"I'm one of the older members of ServNet's 'next generation', but am inspired to be part of a group that has such a strong stake in the auction industry and so much passion for the business," Thompson said.
"I admire the skills the younger members of the board bring to the table: their understanding of technology and social media which is becoming a bigger and bigger factor in the business world, their inventive ideas, and their determination to work together to accomplish great things," Thompson said.
Additionally, the company recently announced that it has expanded its scholarship program designed to help ServNet auction employees and their families pursue higher education through college or vocational school programs
The program serves full-time ServNet employees, their children, stepchildren and grandchildren who plan to continue education.
Up to eight awards will be given this year.
Four awards of $2,500 are for prospective students attending a four-year college or university and four other awards of $1,500 are for those going to a two-year college or vocational-technical school.
"We are very pleased to announce that we have added two more awards to ServNet's Scholarship program," said Brown, ServNet's president. "As owners of independent, family-owned businesses, we know how important it is to encourage those who will follow in our footsteps, and we are committed to extending that support to the next generation in our auction families.
The application deadline for this year's ServNet Scholarship program awards is March 31. More information and application forms are available at www.servnetauctions.com.
Southeastern Auto Auction of Savannah announced that it raised more than $4,000 to give Shriners Hospital for Children and hosted its annual “Cars, Cash & Caring Sale” earlier this month.
“It was a great day for Shriners Hospital for Children thanks to our generous dealers,” Southeastern Auto Auction vice president Bill McCready said in a news release.
“In 2016 we were able to donate over $10,000 to this great organization. Our goal is to beat that number this year and we are off to a good start.”
The auction raised a portion of the donation at the third annual sale event through 50/50 drawings and over the previous five weeks collected an auction contribution for every transaction made.
Regardless of a child’s family’s ability to pay, Southeastern Auto Auction of Savannah said, Shriners Hospital for Children is committed to providing the best care for children in the areas of orthopedics, burn care, spinal cord Injury and cleft lip and palate.
Additionally, at the sale event, the auction featured a large run of vehicles as well as record consignment of fleet/lease/bank and rental units, according to the auction.
“Our institutional business has grown rapidly over the last two years and it was on display for this sale. It was a great day for both buyers and sellers. Katie Rushing (national remarketing manager for SEAA) offered a record number of vehicles from her accounts,” McCready added.
Following the sale, $25,000 in cash and prizes was given away.
The giveaways included $10,000 in cash, a 75 inch Samsung television, Bose sound systems, Yeti coolers, custom office furniture, chrome seafood steamers and more, according to the auction.
Subaru of America recently announced the winner of its 2016 Auction of the Year award, which honors auctions for sales effectiveness and service quality.
This year’s title went to Manheim Southern California.
“A numerical score is calculated at the conclusion of every sale at every location on a monthly basis and the auctions are ranked monthly based on the final score,” Subaru nationalf fleet remarketing manager John Manchin said in a news release.
Subaru said it evaluates auctions by tracking and measuring three key components which include: total sale percentage, retention to goal price and the number of unique buyers.
Manheim Southern California is among several auctions that host combined Subaru factory sales, which features company promotional and program vehicles.
