Manheim Auctions has reported that Simulcast, its online system that allows used car dealers to electronically bid on and buy vehicles as they are moving through auction lanes, has done well with dealers.

“We are blown away,” said Joe Luppino, Manheim Auctions vice president and chief operating officer for Manheim Interactive. “We’ve had more than 3,500 dealers so far this year and they have purchased more than 1,700 vehicles valued at $25 million, representing 12 percent to 15 percent of the total sales in the lanes where they were sold. At the rate it’s growing, Simulcast could become the most successful Internet buying service available to dealers by year’s end, if not before.”

According to the company, dealers’ growing comfort level with the service could be seen at a recent Daimler Chrysler Corporation sale at Florida Auto Auction of Orlando, where 53 dealers viewed the sale on Simulcast. More than 730 online bids were accepted, and 22 dealers from nine states actually purchased 157 vehicles, says the company.

“Dealers who are familiar with wholesale auctions will continue attending auctions, because they know that the experience found in the lanes of a sale is an essential part of their work, where they can touch the car and check its condition, hear the motor run and see the ‘marketplace’ in action,” said Dean Eisner, Manheim Auctions president and chief executive officer. “With Simulcast, Manheim has provided buyers who cannot physically be present a chance to still see, and hear, the auction and buy as if they were there.”

Manheim says it currently has 62 auction lanes at 16 auctions operating on Simulcast, with 20 consignors, including both dealers and commercial accounts, selling vehicles on the system. Estimates are that by the end of May, Simulcast will be installed in 160 lanes at 32 Manheim auctions, ready to be activated as soon as training is complete. At this pace, Luppino conservatively estimates that Simulcast could attract more than 7,500 dealers into the auction lanes electronically by the end of May.

ABOUT MANHEIM AUCTIONS

Dedicated to helping dealers succeed, Manheim Auctions offers services that impact every stage of a used vehicle’s life cycle. These include transaction, reconditioning and certification services, managed remarketing, end-of-lease-term management services, vehicle transportation, dealer floor planning, retail inspection and government auction services. The company also assists auto manufacturers, fleet and lease companies, banks and other financial institutions in selling their used vehicle inventories. Manheim offers technology tools that help dealers and national consignors handle their remarketing transactions more efficiently.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, Inc., Manheim Auctions has more than 32,000 employees at its 124 auctions and related businesses. Manheim is a global remarketing organization with 85 auctions in North America and additional operations in France, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. In the year 2002, the company says it auctioned more than 9.5 million vehicles at its North American auctions.