As the “who’s who” of the automotive world descended on Las Vegas for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) convention, Manheim Auctions president and chief executive officer Dean Eisner said his company is in better position than ever before to meet the needs of dealers.
“Manheim Auctions was founded on the belief that service to dealers would always be our top priority, and I’m proud to say that 56 years later, that notion still drives everything we do,” said Eisner. “As we meet with dealers in Las Vegas this weekend, we’ll do a lot of listening. We want to hear how our customers think we’re doing. It’s also an appropriate time to point out the many ways we’re making our commitment to dealers a reality.”
Among the recent dealer-focused initiatives highlighted by Eisner:
Unpredented Investment in Auctions
Manheim will spend $200 million in 2001 to upgrade, expand and build auctions. This year’s investment is part of a decade-long commitment to spend $1.5 billion on improvements to the company’s nationwide remarketing infrastructure, including an investment of $500 million in each of the last five years and a commitment to spend one $1 billion over the next five years. Among the highlights are improvements at the following facilities:
o Newburgh, New York – Newburgh Auto Auction expanded its facility, moving from the old 28-acre site to a new, 149-acre location. The new auction building has 14 auction lanes, up from eight lanes in the old facility. It also has the capacity to store 7,500 vehicles on site, a dramatic increase from the 2,800-vehicle capacity at the old location. Grand opening was held in October 2000.
o Nashville, Tennessee – Nashville Auto Auction officially broke ground at its new location in December 2000. The new auction will feature 14 lanes on a 265-acre facility. The new Nashville Auto Auction is scheduled to open for business in the fourth quarter of 2001. The state-of-the-art facility will also include a 15,000-square-foot technical center, an 87,000-square-foot reconditioning building, car wash, check-in buildings and parking for nearly 25,000 vehicles.
o Dallas, Texas – The new Dallas/Fort Worth Auto Auction held its grand opening ceremony in January 2001. The 111-acre facility will double the sales capacity at the auction, making it possible to run 2,500 to 3,000 vehicles per sale, up from 1,200 vehicles per sale at the old facility. DFW boasts a new reconditioning facility with four lanes for detailing and four lanes for body work. The new, 12-lane auction building covers 63,000 square feet, and has a separate, 7,200-square-foot check-in/registration building nearby.
o Las Vegas, Nevada – The Greater Las Vegas Auto Auction will also be expanding its capacity with the construction of a new facility to open in March 2001. The Greater Las Vegas Auto Auction will be moving from its current 10-acre facility to a more spacious site of 42 acres. The new facility will feature 6 lanes and a re-conditioning area. The dealer parking area will expand from a quarter-acre lot to four acres. With this expansion, the Greater Las Vegas Auto Auction will be able to more than double its current business.
o Fredericksburg, Virginia – In the spring of 2001, the Fredericksburg Auto Auction will move from its current 40-acre location to a new 14-lane, 260-acre facility. The new facility in Fredericksburg will include a 55,000-square-foot main building that will house check-in and check-out, offices and a cafeteria with a seating capacity of 265. A 75,000-square-foot reconditioning/detail shop will include the most advanced paint booths available. The site will also include an eight-acre truck parking area and 1,400 dealer parking spaces. With the expansion of the Fredericksburg Auto Auction, the auction will double its business from 2,400 to 5,000 cars a week.
o Detroit, Michigan – Detroit Auto Auction broke ground on its new facility in September 2000. Located in Ash Township, only eight miles from Detroit’s Metro Airport, DAA is scheduled to open in late Fall 2001. The new facility will be a 200-acre, 12-lane site that will double the capacity of the old Detroit Auto Auction. It features a 71,000-square-foot office building; a 60,000-square-foot, 10-lane reconditioning/detail shop; a 15,000-square-foot technical center, and a 49,000-square-foot paint and body shopwith three state-of-the-art paint booths.
o Houston, Texas – Texas Hobby Auto Auction has broken ground on a new 85-acre facility that is scheduled to open in April 2001. The 10-lane facility will replace the existing 55-acre, 7-lane auction.
Expanded Non-Auction Services
o Manheim Auctions’ mobile vehicle inspection company, Lemon Busters, merged with its end-of-term network, Service Solutions, to form Inspection Solutions. On Jan. 1, 2001, Inspection Solutions combined the strengths of both companies to provide mobile and fixed site automobile inspection services. Inspection Solutions is headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., and the former Lemon Busters base in Austin, Texas, is operating as a regional office for all Manheim Logistic Solutions services.
Dealer-Focused Campaign
o Manheim launched its “Expect More” campaign in October 2000. “Expect More With Manheim” is a comprehensive communications campaign aimed at both internal and external audiences, focusing on Manheim’s long-standing commitment to exceeding customer expectations. The multilevel campaign started with encouraging Manheim employees to make a special effort to make dealers feel welcome and make their experience at Manheim as positive as possible. Along with this new presentation of an established philosophy comes a new look for the company. The Manheim logo remained the same, but a background of four color blocks is now a part of Manheim’s signature look.
Manheim's Management Team
Dean EisnerPresident/CEO
Darryll CeccoliChief Operating Officer
Robert GartinSenior VP/Finance & Admin.
Dave HarrisonSenior VP/Operations
Ralph LiniadoSenior VP/Development
Jamie PorterSenior VP/Sales and Recond.
Ron RobbinsSr. VP/Mktg. & Strategic Plan.
Diane BartonExecutive Director of Marketing
George LargayDirector of Communications
Tom WebbChief Economist
Hal LoganPres./CEO, Manheim Interactive
Chip PerryPresident/CEO, AutoTrader.com
Nick PelusoPresident, Logistics Group
Leon LyonVP/General Manager, MAFS
About Manheim Interactive
Manheim Interactive Inc. is a business-to-business e-commerce company serving the wholesale automotive remarketing industry. A wholly owned subsidiary of Manheim Auctions Inc., Manheim Interactive (www.manheim.com) was created from customer feedback and extends the parent company's well-established tradition of providing best-of-breed services onto the Internet. Customers include auto dealers, manufacturers, banks, fleet, lease, finance and rental-car companies.
About Manheim Auctions
Manheim Auctions has been involved in the wholesale automobile auction industry for more than 55 years. With locations in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, France, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, the company is dedicated to helping dealers succeed and to assisting auto manufacturers, fleet and lease companies, and banks sell their used car inventories efficiently and effectively. The company also offers transaction, reconditioning and certification services, dealer floor planning, and government auction services.
Manheim Auctions is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, Inc., with more than 34,000 employees at its 126 auctions and related businesses. It facilitates wholesale and retail used car transactions on the Internet through its Manheim Interactive and AutoTrader.com lines of business.
Manheim Auctions’ corporate headquarters is in Atlanta, and its Web site is www.manheimauctions.com.
