The Best of State awards, given annually to recognize excellence in various categories ranging from arts and entertainment to sports and recreation in the state of Utah, were announced this week. Three automotive companies were recognized in the merchandising and consumer services division.
In the category of Best of State new auto dealers, the Larry H. Miller Dealerships were recognized as the best in the state of Utah. The Kentson Car Company was recognized as the Best of State for used auto dealers, while LUXE Auto Spa was named the Best of State in the category of automotive services.
The annual winners are selected by a panel of independent judges based on information provided during the nomination process on the Best of State website. The best of each division are presented with a Best of State Statue, otherwise coined as the “BOSS,” which is given at an annual gala.
This year’s BOSS awards will be presented on May 9 at the Salt Palace Convention Center Ballroom in Salt Lake City.
Kelley Blue Book announced its 2015 Brand Image Award Winners, recognizing the “best brands” based on annual perception data collected from more than 12,000 in-market new-vehicle shoppers.
Japanese brands dominated the image awards for non-luxury brands, with Honda maintaining its three-year run as the “best overall brand” as well as “best value brand,” the latter honor of which was held last year by Kia. Subaru won the honors of “most trusted brand” (previously held by Honda) and “best performance brand” (taking the accolade from MINI). Mazda’s lineup of recently redesigned vehicles won it the honor of “best car styling brand.”
The lone domestic representative on the list of non-luxury brands, GMC, earned the honor of “most refined brand.”
“The classic saying ‘perception is reality’ rings true with the Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards, as more than 12,000 in-market new-car shoppers have voiced their opinions about today’s automakers to determine this year’s award winners,” said Hwei-Lin Oetken, KBB’s vice president of market intelligence. “With strong product lineups and compelling marketing communications coming from auto manufacturers, along with the increased importance of peer reviews and ratings, consumers today are more influenced than ever to take interest in a brand, ultimately affecting their vehicle purchase decisions.”
Ford won the lone award as the “best overall truck brand,” while Porsche dominated the field of luxury brand image award winners. Porsche’s extensive lineup, powered by modern-day classics such as the 911 as well as its ever-popular crossovers such as the Panamera, among others, won the German automaker the “best overall luxury brand,” “best value luxury brand,” “most refined luxury brand,” “best performance luxury brand,” and “best car styling luxury brand” awards.
Porsche’s neighbors from Stuttgart, Mercedes-Benz, took the honor of “most trusted luxury brand” from last-year’s winner, Lexus, while Buick repeated last-year’s win as the “best value luxury brand.”
For a complete listing of the awards, visit the KBB website.
Forbes recently released its list of this year’s “America’s Best Employers,” with a strong showing from many companies involved in the automotive industry. Ranked highest among all in the auto sphere was the BMW Group, who ranked 7th on the list of America’s best. Milwaukee’s own Harley-Davidson rounded out the top 10, while Nissan made it into the top 50 by taking the 42 spot.
Here’s a complete list of automotive-related companies who made the cut, according to Forbes.
7. BMW Group
10. Harley-Davison
42. Nissan Motor
113. Tesla Motors
133. Ford Motor
215. Bridgestone
218. Honda Motor
235. Hyundai Motor
252. CNH Industrial
258. Toyota Motor
267. Continental
299. Michelin Group
322. Goodyear
394. General Motors
418. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
For a complete listing of Forbes’ 2015 America’s Best Employers, click here.
Kia Motors recognized two auctions at the 2015 NAAA/IARA/CAR Conference in Las Vegas earlier this month.
Kia presented the “High Performance Auction Award” to Kansas City Independent Auto Auction for maintaining a high level of excellence in every facet of auction operation.
Kia also recognized Manheim Riverside with its “Auction of the Year Award” for not only maintaining a high performance record, but for also posting top numbers for vehicle sales, retentions, percentages of vehicles sold online and buyer attendance ratios.
In addition, the International Automotive Remarketing Alliance recognized Tom Adams Jr., the president of Auction Insurance Agency, with the IARA Circle of Excellence Award. According to Dave Alfonso, Kia’s remarketing manager and IARA’s charter board member and awards and recognitions committee chairman, the honor is given annually for a lifetime of professional excellence in a facet of the auto industry that impacts the remarketing and auction industries.
In other award news, Westlake Financial Services also announced today its top regional auctions for 2014:
- Western Region: ADESA Phoenix
- Midwestern Region: Kansas City Independent Auto Auction
- Eastern Region: Rawls Auto Auction (Leesville, S.C.)
"We have an exceptional group of auction partners and are proud to recognize these top performers for 2014," said Bill Walters, Westlake Remarketing's vice president. "They have done a great job creating an exceptional sales environment and providing reliable service."
In other auction news, Manheim Pennsylvania raised $137,000 for the Save A Warrior program during its recent two-day Xtreme Spring Event held March 19-20.
The non-profit organization supports all branches of the military, veterans, law enforcement and first responders deal with the effects of post-traumatic stress.
“Our organization is grateful for this support from Manheim Pennsylvania, its leaders, staff and customers,” said Ronald “Jake” Clark, founder & executive director of Save A Warrior. “We know their history for supporting veterans, so we are extremely honored to receive this support. This donation will truly help us provide the support and services our veterans need.”
More information about the Save A Warrior organization can be found here.
Joining several others announcing annual awards in March, General Motors has recognized ADESA Minneapolis as its 2014 Auction of the Year.
The auction — a first-time winner of this award — was chosen out of the 34 GM Sponsored Auctions throughout the U.S. and is recognized for “its unwavering commitment to providing customers with the highest-quality vehicles and experience through reconditioning, repairs and great customer service,” GM said.
“GM is proud to present ADESA Minneapolis with this award. With nearly 60 percent of their vehicles selling online, it is very apparent that our customers trust ADESA Minneapolis to provide them with high-quality vehicles and service,” ” said Dan Kennedy, GM remarketing manager.
“This auction also is one of the leaders in providing the GM Frontline Ready and Sponsored Plus vehicles to our GM dealers. Both programs are part of GM and the auction’s commitment to providing the highest-quality vehicles to our customers,” he continued. “Since ADESA Minneapolis teamed up with GM in 2010, the auction has had an unwavering commitment to providing exceptional customer experience.”
ADESA president and chief executive officer Stéphane St-Hilaire added: “It is always an honor to receive an award from one of our customers, but even more so when it recognizes the hard work and dedication of an entire auction team.
“Congratulations to everyone at ADESA Minneapolis for continually striving to provide the best possible customer service experience every day.”
GM is the latest of many to announce annual auction winners. For more, check out our three rounds of auction winners from last week:
Round 1: Ally, ARI, FCA, CPS, Santander
Round 2: OVE.com Winners
Round 3: Avis Budget, LeasePlan, NAAA/IARA/CAR Awards
Auction and industry award announcements continued Thursday at the NAAA/IARA/CAR Conference in Las Vegas, with more businesses being honored for their performances.
Starting off with Avis Budget Group, the 2014 Avis Budget Group Auction Performance Award Winners are below:
- Overall Volume Leader: Manheim Dallas
- Best New Auction Performance: Manheim San Francisco Bay
- Best Performance Retention Percentage: DAA Northwest
- Most Improved Auction: ADESA Phoenix
Over at LeasePlan USA, their awards were as follows:
- Northeast Regional Award Winner: Manheim New England
- Southeast Regional Award Winner: Manheim Lakeland
- Midwest Regional Award Winner: ADESA St. Louis
- Southwest Regional Award Winner: Manheim Denver
- West Regional Award Winner: ADESA Golden Gate
- Customer Service Award Winner – East: Manheim Nashville
- Customer Service Award Winner – West: Oklahoma Auto Exchange
- Top Auction of the Year: Manheim Statesville
More Awards
Also announced Thursday were the CAR conference/Bobit Business Media awards and the National Auto Auction Association’s Warren Young Sr. Fellow award. Those winners are below, as provided by Bobit Business Media to Auto Remarketing:
Consignor of the Year: Paul Seger, GE Capital Fleet Services
Remarketer of the Year: Jay Cadigan, Manheim
Circle of Excellence: Ricky Beggs, Black Book
Additionally, the NAAA named the Barber family of State Line Auto Auction Warren Young, Sr., Fellows.
The results for the J.D. Power 2015 U.S. Customer Service Index Study were released today, showcasing the areas that recently experienced increases and decreases in customer satisfaction based on data from service at franchised dealers for maintenance or repair work among owners and lessees of 1-to-5-year-old vehicles.
J.D. Power highlighted that customer satisfaction has increased with recall customers despite the recent dramatic increase in the number of recalls. The study found that the overall customer service index, or CSI, for customers who took their vehicles to a dealer for a recall-related service improved from 777 to 789 in 2015 (on a 1000 point scale).
“Even though recalls can create a large influx of customers into the service department and really strain capacity, automakers are better prepared to handle recalls than they were a few years ago,” said Chris Sutton, J.D. Power’s vice president, U.S. automotive retail practice. “Manufacturers have shown that it is possible to turn a potential negative into a positive when it comes to recalls if they’re done in a way that doesn’t inconvenience the customer.”
Despite the increase in CSI with recall customers, overall satisfaction decreased slightly. Interestingly, satisfaction for customers with a recall visit was 8 points higher than those with a repair visit for a different reason.
Amongst the automakers, Jaguar ranked the highest in customer satisfaction with a score of 877. The British brand was followed closely by other luxury brands such as Lexus (870), Audi (865), Lincoln (861) and Cadillac (858).
For the mass-market brands, Buick ranked the highest (836) followed by Mini (834), Volkswagen (818), GMC (811) and Chevrolet (807).
For more information or to read the full report, visit the J.D. Power website.
CarLingo announced this week it is honoring 14 dealers in Atlanta as 2015 CarLingo Elite Dealerships.
The company said the CarLingo Elite Dealer awards revolve about spotlighting “the ‘best of the best’ dealers that provide truly outstanding customer experience.”
Explaining how these winners are determined, CarLingo said in its news release that they are chosen “after an exhaustive study of online reputation sites such as DealerRater, Cars.com, Edmunds, and Kelley Blue Book, as well as demonstrating a commitment to outstanding consumer experience as evidenced by OEM awards and customer service awards.”
The 14 locations earning honors as 2015 CarLingo Elite Dealers are:
Classic Subaru Atlanta
Ed Voyles Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram
Ed Voyles Honda
Ed Voyles Hyundai
Ed Voyles Kia
Global Imports BMW
Global Imports MINI
Gwinnett Place Ford Lincoln
Jim Ellis Audi of Atlanta
Jim Ellis Chevrolet of Atlanta
Jim Ellis Volkswagen of Atlanta
RBM of Atlanta
Town Center Nissan
World Toyota Scion
"We're proud to recognize these Atlanta-area dealers that rise above the crowd, based on reputation, consumer feedback and operating excellence," said CarLingo chief executive officer Steve Greenfield. "These dealerships consistently deliver an exceptional consumer experience, and we're therefore very proud to name them 2015 CarLingo Elite Dealerships."
Several companies involved in the automotive industry’s sphere were represented on FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list for 2015.
Amongst the 100 included organizations such as the USAA (33), JM Family Enterprises Inc. (34), Automotive Resources International (36), Credit Acceptance Corporation (37), CarMax (64) and Capital One Financial Corp. (91).
The USAA ranked fifth amongst all financial services companies nationwide while making the list for the sixth consecutive year. The company employees over 27,000 between the U.S., England and Germany, while roughly two-thirds work in the San Antonio, Texas area.
“At USAA, employees are on a mission to help military families move a little closer to financial security,” said Stuart Parker, USAA’s chief executive officer. “Our employees take the initiative every day to take care of our members and make sure their families receive the best service possible. They make USAA a great place to work. It is our responsibility to take care of our employees so they can continue to go above and beyond for our members.”
JM Family Enterprises tallied its 17th consecutive entry this year, a merit it has earned every year since it first applied in 1999, also making it the highest ranked automotive company on the list in the 34 spot.
“We are honored to be recognized as one of the nation’s best workplaces for nearly two decades,” said Colin Brown, president and chief executive officer of JM Family. “JM Family was built on the philosophy that associates are the company’s most important asset and that principle continues to be the driving force in our success. Our ranking is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of more than 4,000 associates.”
The U.S.’s largest used-vehicle retailer, CarMax, garnered its 11th consecutive berth on the list, while continuing its rapid pace of growth with its plan of opening 10-15 stores each year for the next several years and currently hiring for more than 2,500 positions all over the nation.
“Our associates take pride in maintain the strong CarMax culture of innovation, respect and integrity,” said Tom Folliard, CarMax president and chief executive officer. “By investing in the well-being of our associates, we are investing in the success of the company.’
Another company active in the automotive market, Capital One, made the list for the 18th time this year, being acknowledged for its “Great Challenges” and “deep commitment” to employee training and development. The company’s chief human resources officer, Jory Berson, believes the ranking is “gratifying because it’s based on responses from our own associates.”
“Our associates are at the heart of everything we do,” Berson said. “Their dedication, innovative thinking, and truly great work are central to Capital One’s success. From the onset, we have strived to foster a workplace environment where our associates feel heard, valued, and respected and build a culture that thrives on creativity, collaboration and constant learning.”
For more information on the other entries on the list, check out the full entry here.
Auto Remarketing is launching its call for nominations for the Women In Remarketing Class of 2015.
Don't miss the opportunity to honor the exceptional women of the remarketing industry, who drive businesses such as auctions, consignors, dealerships, captive finance companies and more.
Do you work with a female colleague that deserves to be recognized? Or do you know any leading ladies in the industry?
Last year, our class of 2014 was full of industry leaders, and we need your help once again in recognizing the women that help drive the nation’s automotive remarketing business.
The April 15 print and digital editions of Auto Remarketing will contain a special section designed to honor those women that will be chosen for its 2015 Women in Remarketing Class.The 2015 Women in Remarketing Class will also be honored at this year’s Used Car Week Conferences this fall.
But we can’t do it without your help.
The deadline for nominations is Friday, March 13, and we want to make sure to honor the deserving women throughout the industry.
So, you know of someone who deserves to be on the 2015 list?
Here’s what you can do:
No matter what area of the remarketing business the female nominee comes from, she must have a history of going above and beyond the call of duty, whether through innovation, mentoring new professionals, philanthropy, education or more.
To nominate an executive, please email staff writer Josh Hyatt at jhyatt@autoremarketing.com with the following information:
1) Nominees full name, position, and full contact information, including a phone number and email address.
2) A brief summary as to why you think this nominee should be selected. What makes her stand out? Please note that your summary may be quoted.
Auto Remarketing will be contacting the final class of honorees for a brief interview and will be requesting a professional headshot, as well.
We will include a brief profile on each honoree, along with her professional headshot, in our April 15 edition.
Special advertising will also be available for this Women in Remarketing issue. For more information or to purchase space, please contact publisher Bill Zadeits at bzadeits@autoremarketing.com.
Now in its seventh year of recognizing these top auto professionals, Auto Remarketing would also like to call attention to the prior honorees, which include:
2014 Women in Remarketing
Ann Cammarata, DataScan Field Services LLC
Angie Chattin, CarMax Auto Finance
Cindy Cockerham, Copart Inc.
Tammie Gray, Ally Financial
Mary Haller, Auction Broadcasting Co. LLC
Catherine Iger, AutoTrader.com
Sherry Keltner, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA
Joy Wilder Lybeer, Equifax
Charlotte Pyle, Mountain State Auto Auction, Capital City Auto Auction, Pyle Equipment Auctions, and Joe. R Pyle Complete Auction & Realty Service
Nancy Rabenold, Xcira Corp.
Jennifer Ryan, Dominion Dealer Solutions
Diane Scharafin, Carfax
Carol Sewell, ADESA
Mary Lou Sutton, Manheim Credit & Collections
Sheila Tedesco, Lobel Financial
Bridget Townsend, Dealertrack Technologies
2013 Women in Remarketing:
Cheryl DeVries O’Brien, Kalamazoo Auto Auction
Lisa Filippi-Alvarez, American Honda Motor Co.
Anne Fleming, Women-Drivers.com
Valerie Fuller, FordDirect
Isabelle Helms, AutoTrader.com
Rebecca Hewitt, World Omni Financial Corp.
Alison Ouchi, Ally Financial
Julie Picard, Manheim
Jenell Ross, Bob Ross Auto Group and AIADA
Sue Saris, NAAA
Lisa Scott, ADESA Canada and OPENLANE
Patty Stanley, Carolina Auto Auction and Indiana Auto Auction and ServNet
Laura Taylor, Charleston Auto Auction
2012 Women in Remarketing:
Wendy Carter, AutoTrader.com
Courtney Cole, Hare Chevrolet
Lori Coniglio, Wheels Inc.
Stacey Coopes, FordDirect
Stephanie Gingras, Dealers Auto Auction of the SouthWest
Mary Jane Hogan, American Recovery Association
Susie Heins, Manheim
Allison Lind, Mercedes-Benz USA
Michelle Mallon, ADESA
Claudia Plascencia, Repo Remarketing
Andrea Riley, Ally Financial
Keely Smith, AutoIMS
Amy Weisenburger, DataScan Field Services LLC
2011 Women in Remarketing:
Lilicia Bailey, Manheim
Jennifer Costabile, General Motors
Jody DeVere, AskPatty.com
Kristie Griffin, Milwaukee Auto Auction
Deborah Malinowski, Santander Consumer USA
Cynthia Mitchell, BSC America
Gina Paolino, Affinity Auto Program
Rachel Richards, Sonic Automotive
Jennifer Schade, ARI
Ronna Webb, ADESA
2010 Women in Remarketing Class:
Sue Boehlke, Manheim
Jeannie Chiaromonte, Bank of America
Megan Haley, Fiserv
Alexis Jacobs, Columbus Fair Auto Auction
Mary Ann Pipes, CitiFinancial
Debbie Vaughn, ADESA
Angela Williams, Rawls Auto Auction
2009 Women of Remarketing Class:
Carolyn Crafts, Cars.com
Renee Dusek-Higgins, Davis-Moore Auto Group
Joan Horst, BMW
Jennifer Johnson, Jennifer’s Auto Sales
Melanie Kovach, AutoMart & AutoExtra.com
Carol McDavid, GMAC
Jane Morgan, ADESA
Berta Phelps, Manheim corporate
Shirlie Slack, Fredericksburg Auto Auction
Karen Tanner-Smith, CitiFinancial
Allison Weller, Chrysler Financial
Lynn Wolver, Chase Bank
Staff writer Josh Hyatt can be reached at jhyatt@autoremarketing.com, or by phone at (919) 674-6020 ext. 152.
