Early spring in North Carolina. Knocking on summer’s door in Toronto.
Now, that’s the kind of weather we can get on board with at Cherokee Media Group.
Not that more pleasant temps were the reason we made the shift, but the new dates for CMG’s Automotive Intelligence Summit, Auto Remarketing Canada and Women & Automotive events do offer that happy bonus.
After two years hosting the event in mid-summer, the Auto Intel Summit will run April 14-16 this year. It will still be held at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley in Raleigh, N.C.
Meanwhile, we are moving our Auto Remarketing Canada Conference and the Women & Automotive Canadian Leadership Forum to June.
Previously help in late winter/early spring, the Auto Remarketing Canada Conference is being held June 17-18.
Women & Automotive is June 19. Both events are the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto.
More information on all three events can be found in the links below.
The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association and Cherokee Media Group possess many similar characteristics, with one of the most important attributes being the goal of helping dealerships of all sizes prosper.
It’s also part of the reason why the two organizations closely collaborate during Used Car Week.
“It’s always important anytime an industry can bring together key stakeholders to learn, network and stay ahead of coming changes,” NIADA chief executive officer Steve Jordan said. “Investing in yourself and your business is one of the best ways to improve your returns, both personally and professionally. Used Car Week is a great place to do just that, and NIADA is happy to be a part of it.”
For the fifth year in a row, NIADA has a distinguished place during Used Car Week, which opens on Nov. 11 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.
“Dealerships are the cornerstone of the entire automotive industry,” UCW chairman Bill Zadeits said. “The enthusiasm and energy Steve Jordan and the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association bring to Used Car Week are invaluable. Ensuring dealerships are involved in each part of Used Car Week is crucial for an industry-leading event, and NIADA support helps us achieve that objective.”
Along with NIADA sharing its perspectives, UCW 2019 also includes additional workshops and presentations designed to help store personnel. It’s all under the umbrella of Dealer Training Tuesday.
Dealer training can be essential to auto retail stores’ success and growth, or both. But it can also be expensive and time consuming, rendering it inaccessible to many dealerships and sales staff. But that changes this fall in Las Vegas Used Car Week is bringing some of the industry’s top dealer trainers together for a day of sharing insight, strategies and tips to bring your dealership forward into 2020.
The best part? Dealers are invited to attend the first block of Used Car Week, including Dealer Training Tuesday, free of charge.
For complete details and to register, go to www.usedcarweek.biz.
Cherokee Media Group integrated more auto-finance workshops and presentations into Used Car Week beginning in 2013.
And one of the primary reasons why conference organizers made that move was the National Automotive Finance Association.
“When we looked to expand Used Car Week to include an auto-finance component, some of the first steps we took included conversations with Jack Tracey and the leadership of the National Automotive Finance Association,” UCW chairman Bill Zadeits said. “That initial dialogue set us on the path for Cherokee Media Group and the NAF Association working closely together not only on how to shape conference content, but also to cultivate relationships with finance companies that play such a crucial role in both retail and wholesale transactions.”
One of the many highlights of Used Car Week is Auto Fin Con, presented by Allied Solutions and Digital Recognition Network (DRN).
Auto Fin Con blends together workshops and panel discussions featuring leading experts and executives who not only can explain what’s happened so far this year in auto financing, but also shed some light on what could be in store in 2020 and beyond.
NAF Association executive director Jack Tracey and current president Joel Kennedy of TruDecision are hosting a workshop on the opening day of Used Car Week.
The complete agenda is available here.
Along with appearing on stage, Tracey also explained other ways the NAF Association benefits from being a part of Used Car Week.
“The NAF Association views its relationship with Used Car Week to be extremely valuable,” Tracey said. “The conference pulls together a great number of used-car dealers, more than we get at our annual conference. That affords us the opportunity to interact with these dealers who are so very important to our auto finance company members.
“We try each year to schedule a NAF Association event to run in conjunction with the Used Car Week conference,” he continued. “This year, we are holding a NAF Association board of directors meeting during the event.”
For complete details about Used Car Week, go to www.usedcarweek.biz.
A wide array of components goes into orchestrating Used Car Week and its four distinct pieces — Pre-Owned Con, Auto Fin Con, Repo Con and the National Remarketing Conference.
And one of the most important ingredients is collaboration with leading organizations such as the American Recovery Association. Executive director Les McCook shared why ARA is again an industry partner with Used Car Week, which begins on Nov. 11 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.
“It is important that a true industry trade association find every opportunity to interact with every stakeholder in our industry,” McCook said. “These events help to facilitate the face-to-face conversations that build trust among the industry sectors we serve. The atmosphere is conducive to a productive strategy planning discussion.”
Workshops, general sessions and networking breaks fill Used Car Week’s agenda, which is available online. Leading experts, entrepreneurs and executives are on the docket so attendees can gain useful information to take back their companies to shore up short-term needs and formulate long-term strategies.
Whether you’re a dealer, work at a finance company, handle collections, repossession and recoveries or manage wholesale activities, Used Car Week is designed to help your business.
“We reinforced our efforts this year for Used Car Week fulfilling the mission of truly, ‘Uniting the Industry,’” UCW 2019 chairman Bill Zadeits said. “Each segment of the used-car industry offers unique functions, information and perspectives, and our job is to provide the opportunity for dialogue and collaboration that benefits the entire space. And the way we do that is leveraging valuable relationships with organizations such as the American Recovery Association to walk alongside Cherokee Media Group as we make Used Car Week the best it can be.”
You can register now and take advantage of Early Bird Discounts that are available until Oct. 1.
Complete details are available at www.usedcarweek.biz.
In the fourth of six panel discussions recorded at Used Car Week 2018, Joe Overby moderates a panel discussion with some of the leading economists in the used-car industry: Jonathan Smoke of Cox Automotive, Tom Kontos of KAR Auction Services and Tony Hughes of Moody's Analytics.
The full discussion can be found below.
And stay tuned for more podcasts recorded live during Used Car Week sessions.
Download and subscribe to the Auto Remarketing Podcast on iTunes or on Google Play.
You can also listen to the latest episode in the window below.
Catch the latest episodes on the Auto Remarketing Podcast homepage and on our Soundcloud page.
Please complete our audience survey; we appreciate your feedback.
In the first of six sessions recorded at Used Car Week for the Auto Remarketing Podcast, conference chair Bill Zadeits moderates the Executive Suite panel discussion with Becca Polak of KAR Auction Services, Rick Ricart of Ricart Automotive Group, Fredrick Stanfield of Cox Automotive and Mike Stanton of NADA.
The full discussion can be found below.
And stay tuned for more podcasts recorded live during Used Car Week sessions.
Download and subscribe to the Auto Remarketing Podcast on iTunes or on Google Play.
You can also listen to the latest episode in the window below.
Catch the latest episodes on the Auto Remarketing Podcast homepage and on our Soundcloud page.
Please complete our audience survey; we appreciate your feedback.
The Auto Intel Council (AIC) will be hosting a press conference at this month’s NADA Show 2019 featuring leaders from KAR Auction Services, MBSi Corp. and Maryann Keller & Associates.
The press conference is scheduled for 1 p.m. (PT) on Jan. 25 in room 102 South at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
After a brief introduction from AIC leadership, the press conference will include presentations from the following:
- Joe Oliveri, general manager of KAR Data as a Service at KAR Auction Services
Oliveri will discussing be a data pilot.
- Cort DeHart, president at MBSi.
DeHart will discuss the value of the Auto Intel Council from MBSi’s perspective as well as MBSi’s compliance-enabled repossession management software.
- Jeremy Alicandri, managing director at Maryann Keller & Associates.
MK&A will release the results of its six-month study on franchise dealer advertising. The research is based on 125-plus interviews with franchise dealers, automakers, and advertising executives, and represents over 400 dealerships. The study’s results will identify current and future advertising trends in auto retail, including digital retailing, third-party marketplace sites and traditional advertising mediums. Alicandri will present the study’s findings during the press conference
The Auto Intel Council is a private, membership-based organization owned and managed by Cherokee Media Group, which publishes Auto Remarketing and the Auto Fin Journal, among other auto industry publications and media properties.
AIC includes the leading intelligence companies in the automotive space, along with their respective economists, analysts, researchers, data scientists, communications professionals and executives.
Current members include Digital Recognition Network (DRN), IBM, KAR Auction Services, MBSi Corp. and Maryann Keller & Associates.
For more information, contact Auto Intel Council directors Joe Overby (joverby@cherokeemediagroup.com) and Nick Zulovich (nzulovich@cherokeemediagroup.com).
Technical issues never come at a good time, and that’s especially true when they happen in the final hours of the Used Car Week early bird registration deadline.
We are aware that our registration system is experiencing technical issues, and we want you to know that our team is working on the solutions.
Due to these issues, we are extending the early bird registration deadline to Wednesday, Oct. 17.
As soon as we have more information to share, we will be in touch. Until then, we thank you for your patience and understanding.
For more information, visit www.usedcarweek.biz.
In 2012, Auto Remarketing launched its “Best CPO Dealers in the USA” series, an annual program that includes brand-by-brand rankings of the dealerships with the most certified pre-owned sales from the preceding year.
The No. 1 CPO seller for Nissan has been the same in each of the seven editions of “Best CPO Dealers.”
That dealership? The appropriately named Trophy Nissan in Mesquite, Texas. The store, located in the Dallas area, has now added a new “trophy” to its mantle.
Trophy Nissan is Auto Remarketing’s 2018 CPO Dealer of the Year, an award sponsored by ADESA.
The CPO Dealer of the Year award will be presented at the Used Car Awards Luncheon, which is sponsored by TradeRev, on Nov. 13 during Used Car Week.
Used Car Week is being held Nov. 12-16 at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz. Early bird registration rates for the conference end after Tuesday.
‘Go all in’
Nearly a decade ago, Trophy Nissan decided to “go all in” with certified pre-owned, said Eric Shoemaker, the store’s pre-owned director. The dealership began making sure its personnel was “comfortable with the certification process” and implementing a reconditioning strategy to where any qualifying car was reconditioned to the point it met Nissan’s CPO requirements.
Certified has been “our big value-add,” Shoemaker said, helping to differentiate the store from its peers.
Making CPO a focal point has clearly resonated with Trophy’s customer base. Shoemaker said in the phone interview that, “when we’re asking them why they chose us, it’s ‘because we wanted to buy a certified car.’”
The consumer “acceptance” of CPO continues to gain traction each year, Shoemaker said.
And that’s evident in Trophy’s sales. The dealership sold 2,125 CPO vehicles last year to top Nissan’s ranking, and Shoemaker expects to see an uptick in certified sales (and overall sales volume, for that matter) this year. And he believes Trophy will once again lead Nissan’s CPO list.
“I can’t foresee us losing that spot this year, either,” Shoemaker said.
CPO challenges & opportunity
Going back to Shoemaker’s point on consumer acceptance of certified, he attributes it to the peace-of-mind that CPO can offer.
“I think that everybody’s had a bad experience with a used car, and the certification, that peace-of-mind, knowing that you’re buying something that’s a good piece of equipment, is just more and more important,” he said.
“And people are willing to spend a little bit extra money to make sure that they’re getting something that’s had Nissan certified technicians going through it,” Shoemaker said. “That way they’re not going to have problems after the sale.”
That’s certainly an opportunity CPO offers.
One trend that presents both a challenge and opportunity in certified is the strong supply of off-lease volume.
“It can be a double-edged sword. It’s helped with availability… (however) it’s hurt values, where obviously, big supply always is going to drive down price, which drives down the value of a car,” Shoemaker said. “But as far as for a resale standpoint, people are getting more for their money.”
He did note in the August interview that “in the last few months” supply had gone down, so “we’re seeing a pretty big rebound in values for their product.”
One challenge specific to the Dallas area is that it’s “super competitive,” Shoemaker said.
“And it always has been. As far as wholesale goes, I would say this is probably one of the stronger markets in the country,” in terms of the prices that vehicles will fetch, he said.
“It’s hyper-competitive,” Shoemaker said. “There’s a lot of good Nissan stores in the area, and (they) do a good job. This makes it even more important to differentiate yourself from them.
“It’s everything. It’s your sales process and how you’re handling internet leads; it’s a collection of stuff. Making sure that you get the opportunity and take really, really good care of the customer. That’s kind of the name of the game.”
However, he did note that being in such a competitive market means CPO prices are relatively low, which has driven out-of-state business for Trophy.
Much of that business is set up over the phone, where the shopper discusses the deal with the necessary dealership personnel over the phone and then has an easy handoff once he or she comes into the store.
“More and more people are preferring to do it that way,” Shoemaker said.
As far as the overall used-car market (beyond his neck of the woods), he sees the biggest challenge as “staying competitive and running a decent margin at the same time.”
He counts one of pluses as the fact that there’s solid supply.
“The certified pre-owned business is really, really good. There’s a lot of demand,” Shoemaker said. “If you can acquire and turn it into a good quality product, there’s going to be somebody that’s looking for it.
“That’s a huge positive. There’s a big demand for pre-owned cars, especially certified.”
Congratulations to the recipients of this year's Auto Remarketing’s Best Auctions to Work For program, presented by CARS Recon.
The program is a free workplace study for the auto-auction industry that recognizes the best auto auctions to work for on an unranked basis. It is designed and intended for individual physical auction locations — and for the first time, digital auctions, as well.
Digital auction honorees are designated as such.
It is absolutely free for both physical and digital auctions to participate.
Winners are recognized in the Sept. 15 edition of of Auto Remarketing and at a Nov. 15 breakfast during the National Remarketing Conference + NAAA Convention segment of Used Car Week, which is being held Nov. 12-16 at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Here are this year’s honorees, listed alphabetically:
ACV Auctions
Auctions in Motion
Auto Auction of New England
DAA of Chattanooga
DAA of Huntsville
DAA of Mobile
DAA of Murfreesboro
Louisiana’s 1st Choice Auto Auction
Manheim Arizona
Manheim Dallas-Fort Worth
Manheim Darlington
Manheim El Paso
Manheim Fort Myers
Manheim Fredericksburg
Manheim Hawaii
Manheim Keystone
Manheim Lakeland
Manheim Louisville
Manheim Mississippi
Manheim Nashville
Manheim New Mexico
Manheim New Orleans
Manheim Orlando
Manheim Pensacola
Manheim Philadelphia
Manheim Portland
Manheim San Antonio
Manheim St. Pete
Manheim Texas Hobby
Music City Auto Auction of Nashville
OVE
San Antonio Auto Auction
RMS Automotive
TradeRev
“Auto Remarketing is very proud to lead the effort in identifying and celebrating these great work environments and cultures,” said Auto Remarketing group publisher Bill Zadeits. “We congratulate all the auctions that participated and those that were honored in this year’s study.”
More about the ‘Best Auto Auctions’ program
Auto Remarketing, teaming with the Best Companies Group (BCG) in Pennsylvania, underwrites the study. The study is managed by BCG, and the data is analyzed 100 percent by the staff at BCG. Best Companies Group directly administers all surveys and manages and analyzes all data and information that is gathered.
The Best Companies Group assesses the data from the group of auctions choosing to participate and develops metrics and standards based on that data to determine which auctions are named to the list of Best Auto Auctions to Work For.
The Q&A pieces in the special section were put together by Auto Remarketing, which also gathered photos provided by the honored auctions. This is the third year of Best Auto Auctions to Work For.
To see those who won in either 2016 and/or 2017, see the listing of all-time winners here.
We encourage all auto auctions, physical and online, to take advantage of this great workplace study opportunity and participate in 2019.
Stay tuned early next year, when we open up registration for the 2019 project.
Thank you to all who participated this year, and congratulations to those recognized in this year’s study!
Editor’s Note: KAR Auction Services, the parent company of the ADESA physical auction chain and the TradeRev digital auction, did not participate in the physical auction side of the Best Auto Auctions to Work For study this year. It did, however, participate on the digital auction side. To see the company’s ADESA physical auctions that earned recognition in the past, please see the All-Time Winners portion.
