Velodyne founder and chief executive officer David Hall has led his company’s efforts in reaching a goal of safe autonomous driving.
To do that, he has provided advanced light detection and ranging, or LIDAR, sensors at automotive grade pricing. Velodyne also launched the World Safety Summit on Autonomous Technology in 2018.
For efforts like that, Hall was one of the winners of the 2019 Ingenuity and Impact Awards from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, or Auto Alliance.
In naming several winners of its Autos2050 awards in the categories of Ingenuity and Impact, the Auto Alliance noted that those leaders shaped the future of auto-mobility.
“It is important to spotlight the innovators and pioneers who are making future advancements a reality today. Their efforts and technologies have the potential to bring tremendous societal benefits—first and foremost greater motor vehicle safety, as well as greater mobility and fewer emissions,” Auto Alliance interim president and chief executive officer Dave Schwietert said in a news release.
The new awards and dinner are part of the Autos2050 event that will take place April 2 at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington D.C. The event will include a conference covering the crossroads of public policy and automotive technology. The Auto Alliance represents 12 automakers with a mission “to promote policies that allow automakers the freedom and control to build cars and light trucks that are safe, reliable, energy-efficient, clean and smart.”
“These winners were chosen for making game-changing contributions to the automotive industry over the past year, and they will be honored at the Autos2050 dinner,” Schwietert said.
In addition to Hall of Velodyne, the Autos2050 Award winners for the category of ingenuity, “for exceptional creativity and uniqueness,” are:
— Turo chief executive officer Andre Haddad, who leads a peer-to-peer car-sharing network that works to increase access to automobiles, offers owners additional income, and reduces the time autos spend idle.
— HERE Technologies chief executive officer Edzard Overbeek, who leads a company building the HD map and location-based services platform to power what the company says is next generation in-vehicle infotainment, along with connected vehicle and autonomous driving products. HERE has been a part of the industry for 30 years, working on digitizing maps for in-car navigation systems.
— HARMAN vice president automotive cyber security, Yuval Weisglass, who leads his company's vehicle cybersecurity technology development and organizational strategy across the vehicle lifecycle, from program and product design through manufacturing and deployment. The company works with automakers to implement threat analysis and technology in support of security measures for connected and autonomous vehicles.
— Watson IoT general manager Kareem Yusuf, who is building on IBM's history of working with the automotive industry by addressing topics “from the factory floor to the rubber on the road,” according to the company.
The Autos2050 Award winners for the category of impact, “for exceptional contributions to improvements in technologies, society, the environment, or the economy, are:
— Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) founder, president, and chief executive officer, Robbie Diamond, who has positioned his organization in the area of automated vehicle thought leadership and has provided policy recommendations and testimony to legislators and agencies.
— Former National Safety Council president and chief executive officer Deborah Hersman, who has worked on transportation safety in government roles, and who advocated for the health and safety benefits of automated vehicles. In January 2019, Hersman became the chief safety officer for Waymo.
Industry peers nominated each recipient for selection by the Autos2050 Host Committee of automaker representatives.
According to details shared with Auto Remarketing this week, five operations have received accolades for 2018 performance through the Ford Auction Service Award Program (ASAP).
The Ford ASAP is a competitive, performance-based program that monitors and rates Ford-sponsored auctions on their operational efficiency of Ford-owned vehicles throughout every step of the auction process. These steps include transportation management, condition reports, work order processing, reconditioning and repair services and the sale of the vehicle.
The list of 2018 winners includes:
2018 Repurchase, CSV National Winners by Group:
Mach 1: Manheim Pennsylvania
Cobra: Manheim Pittsburgh
GT: DAA Northwest
Boss: ADESA Buffalo
2018 RCT (Lease) National Winners by Group:
Mach 1: Manheim Pennsylvania
Cobra: Manheim Pittsburgh
GT: Manheim Mississippi
Boss: ADESA Buffalo
Officials from KAR Auction Services reacted to ADESA Buffalo being picked as a two-time 2018 award winner.
“ADESA Buffalo employees have worked hard to create a customer-focused auction environment and we are so glad that the Ford Auction Service Award Program has taken notice and rewarded their efforts,” ADESA chief commercial officer Paul Lips said.
“We continue to build strong, trusting remarketing partnerships with our customers and our relationship with Ford is no exception,” Lips continued. “In fact, Ford auction sales have been a constant at ADESA Buffalo since the location opened its doors in 1992 and we look forward to many more successful sales years ahead.”
ADESA Buffalo has been honored with various Ford ASAP awards in recent years including Open Sale winner in 2017 and Closed Sale winner in 2017, 2015 and 2014.
According to a news release distributed on Tuesday, Sagent Lending Technologies announced its 2018 Auction of the Year award winner.
At the start of each year, Sagent analyzes the prior year’s performance metrics for all of its auction partners, awarding the top performer with the designation of Auction of the Year. And receiving the latest accolade was ADESA Cincinnati/Dayton.
To qualify for the award, an auction must be a member of the National Auto Auction Association, reside within Sagent’s preferred auction network and outperform its peers within the designated calendar year.
As determined by its accumulation of points within Sagent’s National Quality Control Program (NQCP), the company’s 2018 Auction of the Year award winner is ADESA Cincinnati/Dayton located in Franklin, Ohio.
The company said runners-up included Manheim Louisville located in Clarksville, Ind., and Manheim Dallas.
ADESA Cincinnati/Dayton auction provides registered dealers, brokers, automobile manufacturers, rental agencies, as well as corporate and government fleets with a complete vehicle marketing solution in Ohio.
When speaking of the honor, ADESA president John Hammer said, “ADESA Cincinnati/Dayton and all ADESA auctions are committed to quality and focused on creating a seamless, efficient customer experience. Recognition of our efforts from a remarketer like Sagent Lending Technologies is an indication that we’re doing something right.”
ADESA Cincinnati/Dayton was presented with the award at an appreciation dinner held by Sagent Lending Technologies on Monday.
“Sagent expects the highest quality and standards from their vendor partners. ADESA Cincinnati/Dayton is one such partner that goes above and beyond expectations and deserves the 2018 recognition as Auction of the Year,” Sagent Lending Technologies chief product officer Charles Sutherland said.
Along with announcing that it would be leveraging a tool from Dealertrack, Westlake Financial Services named its 2018 Auction of the Year winner as well as gave accolades to auctions in four other regions.
The top accolade as Westlake’s 2018 Auction of the Year went to America’s Auto Auction Harrisburg.
“We are happy to congratulate our 2018 Auction of the Year winner America’s Auto Auction Harrisburg. They are a great partner and together, we look forward to continuing our growth,” Westlake Financial Services vice president of remarketing William Walters.
Westlake also highlighted that its 2018 top regional auction performers included:
— Northeast Region Winner: America’s Auto Auction Harrisburg
— Midwest Region Winner: Manheim Nashville
— Pacific Region Winner: ADESA Sacramento Brashers
— Southeast Region Winner: Manheim North Carolina
— West Region Winner: Manheim Phoenix
Each year. Westlake grades auctions based on sales and service levels including sales of Westlake remarketed units with the highest MMR percentage. Westlake recognizes top performing auctions in each region with the highest graded auction receiving the Auction of the Year award.
“We are proud to be working with all our auctions and I want to congratulate the top five,” Westlake chief financial officer Paul Kerwin. “We hope to continue our success alongside each of these groups.”
Westlake partners with auctions nationwide to sell thousands of used vehicles each month. Many units are sold with Westlake’s Buy with Confidence Guarantee, which is geared to give dealers peace of mind they are purchasing quality units.
Additionally, Westlake offers a Dealer Loyalty Program in which retailers can receive discounts when Westlake units are purchased at auctions and financed through Westlake.
Operators interested in learning more can contact the remarketing department and check upcoming sales by going to www.westlakefinancial.com/Remarketing.
Westlake picks Dealertrack title tool
In other company news, Westlake Financial Services has chosen Dealertrack Accelerated Title in an attempt to provide dealers with a quicker and more efficient way to handle the payoff and title release process for trade-ins.
With 30 years of experience in the auto finance industry, Westlake Financial Services is a full-spectrum lender that helps dealerships finance customers in all credit categories, including first-time, prime and sub-prime buyers. Using Dealertrack’s Accelerated Title solution will enable Westlake to streamline its transactions and reduce processing costs by delivering a faster title turnaround service.
Dealertrack said the process of obtaining a payoff quote, manually writing checks to pay off a traded-in vehicle and obtaining the title from the finance company can often take anywhere from 12 to 18 days or more. With Dealertrack’s Accelerated Title solution, Westlake Financial Services can now deliver substantial cost savings by facilitating faster electronic payments to finance companies and completing title release for dealerships in just four to six days. That process can speed the standard payoff and release process by 70 percent.
As dealerships continue to face the challenges of margin compression, Dealertrack insisted implementing innovative solutions to optimize efficiency and reduce overhead costs is essential. On average, dealerships pay a holding cost of $32 per day for each vehicle that sits idle on their lot.
In addition, Dealertrack added that recent research demonstrates that vehicles holding a title are nearly twice as likely to sell on the first pass through auction than those without a title.
“At Westlake, we are committed to offering the most seamless financing solutions for dealers and consumers,” said Mark Vazquez, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Westlake Financial Holdings. “Using Dealertrack Accelerated Title enables us to process title releases more swiftly, allowing dealerships to turn their inventory more quickly and reduce their holding costs.
“In today’s margin-compressed environment, finding ways to save time and money for our dealer partners is the key to success, as we all strive to enhance the customer experience by streamlining the financing of their purchase for all parties involved,” Vazquez went on to say.
Dealertrack offers advanced finance company solutions and Accelerated Title is a powerful tool delivering increased speed, accuracy and consistency to vehicle payoffs. Dealertrack holds more than 53 million titles and processes more than 28,000 transactions per day to help finance companies originate installment contracts.
Accelerated Title can provide dealers with title visibility to ensure validity of the trade before the deal is finalized. The service empowers dealers with 24/7 title tracking, reporting and statements so they know exactly what's happening with every transaction. This solution can give dealers more control over their transactions, as the fully electronic process provides them with a reliable and accurate back-office operation.
“We are pleased to see Westlake Financial Services adopt Dealertrack Accelerated Title,” said Kaitlin Gavin, vice president and general manager of Dealertrack Registration and Title Solutions. “Our goal is to continue to increase efficiency and expedite the financing and titling process for dealers by working with lending partners who share our commitment to optimizing efficiency and profitability.”
Helping to build the Cox Automotive portfolio by nurturing organic growth at Autotrader and Manheim is just one of Cox Automotive president Sandy Schwartz’s accomplishments over his three-decade career with the company.
Schwartz has been a key member of the leadership team at Cox Media Group and Cox Automotive, helping to grow the company to $20 billion revenue and 60,000 employees.
Recognizing that and other achievements, the Northwood University board of trustees has named Schwartz a 2019 Outstanding Business Leader honoree.
Northwood University said in a news release that it selects honorees based on personal achievement and that each winner personifies the philosophy of Northwood University.
“Since first vested in 1981, the (Outstanding Business Leader) Award has gone to some of the most extraordinary leaders in enterprise in whose company and association we believe you belong,” Northwood University president and chief executive officer Keith Pretty wrote in a statement congratulating Schwartz on the honor.
In selecting the honorees, Northwood University uses criteria such as contribution to the philosophy of private enterprise, support of the integration of business and the arts, contribution to education, economic innovation, creative marketing ideas, community involvement, religious leadership, philanthropic contributions and business success.
In helping build the Cox Automotive portfolio Schwartz integrated software start-ups such as vAuto and Xtime and helped lead the $4 billion acquisition of Dealertrack and Dealer.com.
Cox Automotive added in a news release that Schwartz has also fostered a family-first ethic and an “open, honest and direct culture” at the company.
Schwartz has also led community service initiatives for entities such as the A.C. Green Youth Foundation and the American Red Cross of Metropolitan Atlanta. The Northwood website section promoting the event describes Schwartz “as a self-described ‘car guy’ whose garage houses an EV and an American muscle classic. He’s right at home with the breadth of Cox Automotive’s reach in the auto industry—from in-lane auctions to online vehicle listings to open platform dealership software.”
Northwood will honor Schwartz and six other leaders at its Outstanding Business Leader awards event on Saturday. More than 200 people, including past honorees, board members, Northwood students and family members and friends of Northwood are expected to attend.
Arthur E. Turner, co-founder of Northwood University conceived the award program, which recognizes leaders in the American free-enterprise system.
Finding the right dealership can make or break the car buying experience. So says Edmunds chief executive officer Avi Steinlauf.
“Our latest Five Star Dealer list is a great starting point for shoppers on the hunt for a local dealer that shares our commitment to superior customer service and support, and we’re honored to support their willingness to go above and beyond for their customers,” Steinlauf said in a news release.
Edmunds has announced the winners of its 2019 Edmunds Five Star Dealer Awards, and they include 177 dealers nationwide with top customer satisfaction ratings. The awards are based on sales reviews from Edmunds car shoppers.
An additional 14 of the highest-performing dealerships have earned Edmunds’ Five Star Premier Dealer designation.
To be eligible, dealers must participate in the Edmunds Dealer Partner program. They also must have received at least 30 sales reviews on Edmunds during calendar year 2018.
Five Star Premier dealers must have received at least 150 sales reviews on Edmunds in 2018. Edmunds Five Star and Edmunds Five Star Premier dealers must have earned an average customer sales review rating of at least 4.5 stars between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018 to qualify.
To find the full list of 2019 winners can be seen at the Edmunds Industry Center.
Edmunds Five Star Dealerships are organized by state, so residents can find their state’s local winners more easily. Car shoppers can look up the reviews and ratings for any dealer in their area on Edmunds’ Find a Dealer page. The 2019 Five Star Dealer badge denotes the winning dealerships.
Icahn Automotive chief executive officer Dan Ninivaggi believes in investing in “the future of our industry and the people that power it.”
His company had that in mind when it awarded the first scholarship in early February at its Race to 2026 launch event at NASCAR Technical Institute. Icahn recognized Jonathan Fanstill, a military veteran enrolled in Universal Technical Institute’s automotive technology program.
That support will continue. Icahn Automotive, which owns and operates auto repair and maintenance providers Pep Boys, AAMCO and Precision Tune Auto Care, will award scholarships for the 2019-2020 school year to qualified students studying for a career as a professional automotive technician.
For its first scholarship, the company recognized Fanstill — who is maintaining a 4.0 grade point average and plans to graduate in December — for his “passion for the future of the industry, his interest in learning as much as he can about evolving automotive technology and his commitment to caring for customers,” Icahn stated in a news release.
The scholarship program is part of Icahn Automotive’s Race to 2026 initiative to increase the number of trained auto technicians.
Icahn is doing that in part to help fill an industry-wide talent gap that the company says is projected to grow to 46,000 over the next seven years.
“Supporting students who have an interest in the skilled trades is essential to ensuring we have enough qualified professionals ready to service customer vehicles for decades to come,” Ninivaggi said in a news release.
Icahn will award 12 additional $2,500 scholarships to students enrolled full- or part-time in high school, college, or trade school and who are pursuing an automotive technician degree or certification. Applications will be accepted through April 30 and recipients will be announced in June.
Applicants are also required to submit written essays or videos describing “Why I want to be a top technician” and two letters of recommendation. The Icahn Automotive scholarship panel, which includes technicians and other employees, will review the application materials.
David Vignes, who is president of remarketing services at KAR Auction Services, believes that if you asked all 18,000 employees at KAR Auction Services, “Who is Jim Hallett?” most would correctly say that Hallett is chief executive officer and chairman of the company.
“But I can guarantee you that absolutely everybody knows Safe T. Sam,” Vignes said in an interview with Auto Remarketing.
As many people in the auction industry know, Safe T. Sam is the animated mascot of ADESA’s safety program, which is a course of short instructional videos that Vignes created. Now more than 75,000 people have been certified or recertified in auction safety through the program.
Vignes’ work on the program led to the National Auto Auction Association naming him as a Warren Young Fellow in February. The association also named Cox Automotive safety and environmental senior director Kenny Jones as a Warren Young Fellow at an awards ceremony that took place during the association's Safety Summit in Dallas.
NAAA stated in a news release that the honor recognizes Vignes’ and Jones’ instrumental roles in developing and promoting safety initiatives for the auto auction industry.
As part of the award, the association presented a $2,500 donation each in Vignes’ and Jones’ names to NAAA’s nonprofit Warren Young, Sr., Scholastic Foundation. A Fellow is a donor at that level, or someone in whose honor or memory a contribution is made in that amount to support the scholarship organization.
Vignes, Jones, and 111 others have now earned the lifetime distinction of being named a Fellow. They received a gold medal and a framed commemorative certificate. Their names will be engraved on a plaque of esteemed Fellows at NAAA headquarters.
The foundation was established in 2004 and has raised more than $2.3 million by awarding $52,000 in merit scholarships annually for full-time study at accredited institutions. The award was named in honor of Warren Young, Sr., who NAAA describes as a pioneer of the auto auction industry who retired after 35 years of service to his profession and NAAA.
NAAA president Chad Bailey said in a news release that Jones has devoted 26 years to safety. Jones has worked for the last 19 years for Manheim, where Bailey said he was “focused on building a culture of safety.”
A driver training program was one of Jones’ many safety initiatives, Bailey said, adding that the training program led to NAAA’s initial educational video, “Cycle of Safety.” It also led to safety leadership instruction and safety process evaluations, Bailey said.
Jones also oversaw a campaign in 2018 that resulted in all Manheim auto auctions becoming 100-percent safety certified, according to a news release.
“The course of short instructional videos has become the industry standard and, thanks to KAR generously making it available free to all our members, more than 75,000 people have been certified or recertified in auction safety,” Bailey said.
Commenting further about Vignes’ work on the Safe T. Sam program, NAAA stated that as Vignes’ cartoon image began branding the safety program’s materials, Vignes worked to increase the program’s impact by having Safe T. Sam make personal appearances at auctions. Vignes dressed as the character and toured the auctions. His visits began to go viral on social media, spreading the message of safer auctions.
“Vignes had a mascot costume made, and Safe T. Sam was born,” NAAA stated in a news release.
Vignes' work on Safe T. Sam was inspired by his 16 years as an executive with the Walt Disney Corporation prior to joining ADESA in 2007, and he told Auto Remarketing, “It’s amazing to see the power of a character.”
KAR eventually provided the program for free to all our members, “because we believe it’s the right thing to do,” Vignes told Auto Remarketing.
“When we started, it was an internal program with ADESA,” he said. “We never expected it would take off like it did.”
Many news articles have covered what the auto industry has described as a critical shortage of service technicians. In appreciation to those technicians currently making a strong contribution, an Auto Care Association program has honored a new round of recipients with its 2019 World Class Technician award.
In partnership with the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), the Auto Care Association provides this annual award to recognize professional technicians who have achieved ASE certification in 22 specialty areas during the 2018 certification test administration. The tests include: A1-A8 (automotive), T1-T8 (medium/heavy truck), B2-B5 (collision repair) and L1, L2 (advanced).
Of the estimated 879,000 technicians in the United States, more than 250,000 hold ASE certification. More than 2,000 technicians have earned the “World Class Technician” status since the organizations began the award program more than 30 years ago.
The newest round of World Class Technicians includes 45 recipients:
— Carlos Acevedo Ramos – Bayamon, Puerto Rico
— John Adams IV – Euless, Texas
— Brian Beauchemin – Cumberland, R.I.
— Richard Benson – Houston
— David Boyce – Westport, Mass.
— Kevin Brown – Leander, Texas
— Michael Campbell – Chicago
— William Childers – Lizella, Ga.
— Roberto De La Torre – San Juan, Puerto Rico
— John Dibartolomeo Jr. – Atco, N.J
— Amos Eaton – Pevely, Mo.
— Ryan Egleston – St. Louis
— Leroy Fleming – Bel Air, Md.
— Luke Franta – Santa Margarita, Calif.
— Robert Gouveia – Everett, Mass.
— William Gray – Metairie, La.
— Travis Guenzler – Catawissa, Mo.
— James Hahn – Milwaukee
— Brad Harder – Emporia, Kan.
— Jason Hodge – Saint Charles, Mo.
— Tyler Hurt – Debary, Fla.
— Scott Jensen – Boynton Beach, Fla.
— Steven Johansson – Troy, Mich.
— Raymond Johnson – Holly Springs, N.C.
— John Jones – Gahanna, Ohio
— Steven Kuhr – Moore, Okla.
— Brian Lacroix – Medley, Fla.
— Kit Mak – Vancouver, British Columbia
— Steven McAtee – Milton, Ky.
— Jeramiah Mihelich – Waltham, Mass.
— Michael Mizzi – Willow Spring, N.C.
— Frank Naelitz – Lorain, Ohio
— Matthew Olsen – Burlington, Mass.
— William Onessimo Jr. – Rockland, Mass.
— David Piper – McKinney, Texas
— Kenneth Ratliff – Bethel, Ohio
— Robert Reiss – Carnegie, Pa.
— Mark Robinson – Mississauga, Ontario
— Steven Sears – East Bridgewater, Mass.
— Jacob Shuter – Manchester, N.H.
— Michael Springman – Pensacola, Fla.
— John Stacey – Whitesboro, Texas
— Curtis Walker – Woodland, Calif.
— Ryan Weaver – East Falmouth, Mass.
— Thomas Wheeler – Lincoln, Maine
Prometric testing centers offer ASE testing nationwide. The World Class distinction is valid for life.
Four companies collected honors for their presence in the exhibit halls at NADA Show 2019 this past January in San Francisco.
The National Automobile Dealers Association indicated booth awards went to the following participants:
— Inline booth: Rousseau Metal
— Small island booth: SiriusXM
— Medium island booth: CU Direct
— Large island booth: Market Scan
The convention’s annual Best in Show awards, given in four categories according to exhibit size, recognize companies for excellence in design, including the use of innovative materials and creativity in color, lighting and attractions. The exhibits were also evaluated on branding, company imagery and messaging associated with promotion of products and services.
Competition at this year’s convention included 538 exhibiting companies. According to NADA, there were more than 22,000 total attendees at the four-day show. Attendees included U.S. franchised dealers and commercial truck dealers and their managers, international dealers from 37 countries, automaker executives, exhibitor staff, allied industry professionals and media.
CU Direct explained its award-winning booth design focused on providing a unique environment where staff could easily connect and interact with dealers to discuss their evolving needs, from technology, to driving more sales and further advancing credit union relationships.
CU Direct’s marketing team partnered with well-known brand experience agency MC² to develop the booth’s overall look and theme.
“Beyond promoting our CUDL lending platform and dealer services, it was important for us to create a space that would foster meaningful dialog between the dealer and credit union communities,” CU Direct chief marketing officer Brian Hendricks said.
“We greatly appreciate our long-standing relationship with NADA and are honored to be recognized for our efforts to connect with the dealer community during the convention,” Hendricks added.
