Towards the end of an interview on the sidelines here at the Automotive Remarketing Alliance’s Summer Roundtable in August, John Urness was asked to name a piece of music, movie, TV show, sports moment or book that had stood out to him. After pausing for a second, Urness — who is the head of vehicle remarketing and customer loyalty at Chase Auto — pointed to the recent Summer Olympics in Paris. “It’s amazing to watch the production value of the Olympics and what makes you feel — the emotion,” Urness said. “Because not only do they draw out the realization of what's happening at that point in time, but they bring all the stories behind it.  Seeing folks participate and push themselves and everything it took to get there to do it, I think that's what sticks with me.” [Read More]

Which way is the dealership M&A market headed? Depends on whom you ask. In its Second Quarter 2024 Blue Sky Report, released Monday, Kerrigan Advisors cited a record number of dealership acquisitions during the first half of this year and said the current rate of nearly double pre-pandemic levels projects to a record year with more than 760 franchise sales. A week earlier, Haig Partners’ Q2 Haig Report pointed out a decline in dealership profits in that has slowed demand and the pace of the buy-sell transactions, as well as a decline of dealership blue-sky values. The report projects some 500 stores to be sold, fewer than in 2023, though still the fourth-most active year in history. Another report issued this week ... [Read More]

Supply is better than a year ago but starting to tighten in the used-car market; meanwhile, wholesale vehicle prices in August climbed month-over-month and week by week, though were lower than year-ago levels. That’s according to monthly indices and top industry analysts monitoring activity in the used-car market. Black Book’s Used Vehicle Retention Index came in at ... [Read More]

ACV may have started as a dealer-to-dealer digital wholesale platform, but the company continues to build its physical infrastructure as part of a strategy to broaden its offering to commercial consignors. And that includes the acquisition of traditional brick-and-mortar auto auctions like Alliance Auto Auctions and DAA Oklahoma City — which are just two of the entities ACV has purchased — in addition to renting land and opening greenfield sites. The company is 25% of the way towards its goal of at least ... [Read More]

Craig Amelung believes that the National Auto Auction Association has a proud past, is living and operating to the fullest in its present and all while keeping a keen eye on its future. That’s why among the NAAA incoming president’s goals over the next year is to identify and nurture a next generation of auction leaders who want to get involved with the association and to draw on the knowledge and experience of those auction veterans who make it successful every day. Amelung is scheduled to take over the reins of the association at its NAAA World Remarketing Convention, in Orlando, Fla., Sept. 30 – Oct.3. Also at the convention, current NAAA president Eric Autenrieth, CEO of Carolina Auto Auction in Williamston, S.C., will become the association’s chairman. “For many years the association has relied on ... [Read More]

National Auto Auction Association president Eric Autenrieth is looking forward to the session on artificial intelligence at the upcoming 2024 World Remarketing Convention in Orlando, Fla. Autenrieth said his company, the Stanley-Autenrieth Auction Group, has not yet started using artificial intelligence in its operations. “But we have certainly investigated and have kept our eyes open to [Read More]

The past two years, starting with its 2022 acquisition of ADESA’s U.S. auto auctions, have arguably been the most transformative in Carvana’s history. But to understand where the online used-car retailer is now and its potential growth trajectory, one must look at what Carvana was doing in the years immediately prior to that acquisition. What was the online retailer up to? [Read More]

OPENLANE’s investments in technology and customer-centric enhancements aimed at making it easier for buyers and sellers do business on its wholesale used-vehicle digital platform are paying off — especially in its U.S. marketplace, said the company’s CEO, Peter Kelly. The company grew its overall marketplace segment volume by 24,000 vehicles (or 7%) and its marketplace revenue increased 5% to $336 million in the quarter that ended June 30 when compared to the year-ago quarter, said Kelly during OPENLANE’s second quarter earnings call on Aug. 7. OPENLANE’s overall marketplace segment ... [Read More]

Having weathered a series of storms over the past few months, AutoCanada is looking at more dark clouds ahead and searching for a silver lining. But executive chairman Paul Antony said during the dealership group’s second-quarter earnings call, the outlook is still iffy. “It’s just something we can’t forecast right now,” he said. “From my perspective, I think we’ll have ... [Read More]

The cyber-attack against dealership software provider CDK Global, took a toll on Asbury Automotive Group’s second quarter financial results — including its used-vehicle operations — said Asbury’s president and CEO, David Hult during the company’s quarterly earnings conference call. Asbury’s same-store retail used vehicle sales going into June, were up 1% however, its same-store used vehicle retail sales ended the quarter on June 30, down 2% to 30,371 units as a result of the CDK outage which started June 19. “Our same-store, used day-supply was ... [Read More]