A trio of automakers — import and domestic — stood out in the 10th annual Vincentric Best Value Awards, which were announced Tuesday.
Toyota, Audi and Chevrolet earned awards for Best Value Passenger Car Brand, Best Value Luxury Brand and Best Value Truck Brand, respectively.
Honda, Ford, and Lexus also put up a strong showing, each winning over three awards for the nameplates.
Vincentric leaders said this year’s award winners showed the diversity of the U.S. vehicle marketplace.
“The 2014 Vincentric Best Value in America awards demonstrate the increasing fragmentation of the U.S. auto market,” commented David Wurster, president of Vincentric. “In our passenger car segments, there were 15 different brands out of the 22 award winning vehicles, with similar distribution in our SUV, crossover, and truck segments.
“We expect this to continue as additional manufacturers use cost-of-ownership as a strategic metric within their organizations to develop vehicles in all segments that best meet their customers' needs."
Vincentric officials explained Toyota’s passenger car strength pushed it ahead of its counterparts, as well as the four Lexus and Scion brand winners.
The Toyota Tacoma took home the Best Value in America award for the 10th year in a row, bringing the overall count for the Japanese manufacturer to 11 awards this year.
The other Japanese nameplate to stand out was Honda, who “showed the strength of its volume vehicles,” said Vincentric, with the Accord, Civic, CRV and Odyssey all honored as being the best value in their class.
Audi scored two more awards with its two award-winning diesel powered TDI vehicles, on top of its Best Value Luxury Brand title.
Highlighting the domestic nameplates, General Motors took home five awards, and Ford scored three.
Further information regarding all of the winners of the Vincentric Best Value in America awards for the 2014 model year and the Vincentric methodology can be found at www.vincentric.com.
The role of ringman is vital to the auction sales process, and fleet services provider ARI has publicly recognized two such employees with its Ringman of Distinction Award.
The award from ARI, which recognizes the outstanding contributions of ringmen at various vehicle auctions, was recently presented live in the auction lanes to Art Mecias of ADESA Los Angeles and Zach Massey of ABC Birmingham by ARI remarketers.
“The ringman is integral to the sales process and is invaluable in netting the highest possible returns for our clients,” said Bob Graham, ARI vice president of vehicle remarketing.
“Every week, we see first-hand how special Art and Zach are,” he said. “They are both clearly passionate and persistent and have made a tremendous impact for our clients.”
ARI partners with several auction outlets throughout North America to maximize potential sales opportunities for clients’ vehicles.
While auctioneers control the sale of a vehicle, ringmen support them by spotting and identifying bids, signaling them to the auctioneer and helping to put sales together.
Hyundai Motor America recently announced its 2013 Auction of the Year and recognized Manheim Riverside with the annual award.
Each year, the award goes to the top-performing auction in terms of sales values, customer service, dealer satisfaction, quality and overall performance.
This marks the first time a West Coast auction has won the award from Hyundai, which first began remarketing cars at Manheim Riverside in 2012.
“We appreciate our partnership with Manheim Riverside and its outstanding management team,” said Gary Knapp, senior group manager, fleet & remarketing, Hyundai Motor America. “With sales volume in our Western Region continuing to increase, we felt it was time to open another auction location in order to better serve dealers on the West Coast.
“The staff at Manheim Riverside has stepped up and consistently puts forth great effort while making sure our dealers always feel welcome. Riverside provides outstanding service and keeps our dealers engaged and interested in returning month after month. Congratulations to GM Chris Brown and his team for a great year,” he continued.
Brown of Manheim Riverside added: “It is truly an honor to receive this prestigious award. We are proud of our long-term partnership with Hyundai Motor America, which is very important to everyone at Manheim Riverside. We value the personal connections with the Hyundai dealer body and HMA corporate team, and are proud of the results we have achieved together. ”
Hyundai added that Manheim Riverside’s closed Hyundai sales include high-quality, low-mileage cars for dealers that often end up in Hyundai’s certified pre-owned program, which has earned Best Popular Program Award honors in the IntelliChoice Certified Pre-Owned Car Awards three years in a row.
More auction winners announced this winter can be found here and here.
Manheim operating locations across the U.S. were honored by customers for delivering top results in the vehicle remarketing industry in 2013, from service, volume and quality to auction of the year, the company said Wednesday.
Presented during the NAAA/CAR/IARA event held last week in Las Vegas, the awards earned include recognitions for Auction of the Year, highest retention, best new auction and more.
“It’s truly an honor for Manheim to be recognized by our customers and industry partners for delivering excellent customer service,” said Nick Peluso, senior vice president of customer management.
“I want to congratulate our locations that were selected for their dedication and commitment to demonstrating remarketing excellence,” he said.
The following awards were presented to Manheim locations:
ARI Regional Auctions of the Year
Region 1: Manheim Harrisonburg
Region 3: Manheim Lakeland
Avis/Budget
Volume Leader: Manheim Nashville
Best New Auction: Manheim New Mexico
Most Improved Auction: Manheim Mississippi
Credit Acceptance
Low Volume Auction of the Year: Manheim Seattle
High Volume Leader, West Coast: Manheim California
Emkay
Manheim Northstar Minnesota, 2013 National Auction of the Year
Manheim Northstar Minnesota, 2013 Midwest Region Auction of the Year
Kia Motors
2013 Auction of the Year: Manheim Riverside
LeasePlan USA (Regional Awards)
Overall Auction of the Year: Manheim Milwaukee
Regional Retention/Days to Sell/Days to Condition Report:
Northeast: Manheim Philadelphia
Southeast: Manheim Lakeland
Southwest: Manheim Denver
Customer Service East: Manheim Statesville
Santander
Auction of the Year: Manheim Detroit
Highest Retention, Midwest: Manheim Detroit
Highest Retention, Southeast: Manheim Georgia
Subaru
Auction of the Year: Manheim New Jersey
Westlake Financial Services announced its 2013 Auction of the Year, an award given for sales effectiveness and service quality.
Earning the title this year is Kansas City Independent Auto Auction.
“Kansas City Independent has been a reliable performer throughout the year, topping our rankings for the second, third and fourth quarters,” said Bill Walters, vice president of Westlake Remarketing, “and Assistant General Manager Jennifer Leocardi has been an integral part of assuring top notch customer service and efficient operations.”
Named as the second and third ranked auctions are ADESA Phoenix and ADESA San Antonio. The top service auction is ADESA Colorado Springs.
Westlake chooses its winning auctions by narrowing the top 24 volume sales across the U.S., then evaluates those based on scorecards measuring their sales effectiveness and service quality.
“We recognize the loyalty of these top auctions and appreciate their dedication to Westlake and our dealerships,” said Ian Anderson, president of Westlake Financial. “Kansas City Independent Auto Auction has surpassed our expectations and is a consistent partner for Westlake.”
Westlake Financial Services attends approximately 45 sales each month in more than 20 states.
