Auction Genius Launches at NADA

LONGMONT, Colo. — The 2012 NADA convention marked the culmination of four years’ of planning, research and development for Todd Kinzle, president of Auction Genius, and his software development team.

They traveled to Las Vegas for the official launch of the company’s flagship product, a web-based solution Kinzle said was designed to “streamline if not completely eliminate” the time-consuming research phase and allow dealers to view five to 10 time as many vehicles in a given session.

Kinzle and his team spent three years working as licensed dealers at a purpose-built lot to develop the Auction Genius system in a real-world setting. “Our goal was to build a used-car operation and find problems,” Kinzle told F&I and Showroom. “Buying cars was our greatest challenge. We asked ourselves, ‘How do you buy the best possible car for your inventory?’”

The result is a system that communicates with leading online auction providers such as Manheim, OVE, ADESA and SmartAuction, and offers a combined screen view displaying the critical information dealers use to make buying decisions. Auction Genius also partnered with each of the major pricing-guide and providers of vehicle history reports, an enhancement designed to help dealers spot vehicles running below book value.

Kinzle said Auction Genius signed 60 dealers in the month leading up to the NADA convention, bringing the company’s total dealer count to 150. He expects to add 100 more dealers based on commitments from dealers on the show floor. Robert Bassam, founder and owner of Washington, D.C.-based Easterns Automotive Group, was an early adopter.

“It’s a competitive edge,” Bassam said. “When you’re bidding online, you can tell who has it and who doesn’t. We’re now considering new vehicles we wouldn’t have before, simply because the price is so advantageous on the book side.”

Auction Genius is now offering a free, 30-day trial and month-to-month agreements to new clients, according to the company. For more information, visit http://www.auctiongenius.net.