SANTA MONICA, Calif. — TrueCar announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding to partner with R. Hollenshead Auto Sales and its subsidiary, Galves Market Data. Together, they intend to launch a six-month pilot program for TrueCar Trade powered by Galves Accu-Trade.

The new platform is designed to serve as a user-friendly, mobile-first product offering featuring a completely transparent valuation process designed to revolutionize appraisals and valuations for dealers and consumers. 

Hollenshead, the largest volume independent vehicle wholesaler in North America, was the inventor of the first-ever online trade-in offer delivered to consumers in 2008 via Autotrader’s Trade-In Marketplace. Hollenshead sold BuyBook Technologies, the valuation engine behind the Trade-In Marketplace, to Cox Automotive in 2014.

“Consumers want strong third-party validation of the trade-in value of their car, and many successful dealers are leaning in to provide the transparency and validation that consumers desire,” said Chip Perry, president and CEO of TrueCar. “The TrueCar Trade platform is being designed to serve as a modern, leading-edge tool for consumers and a cost-effective, best-in-class acquisition tool for dealers. It will enable dealers to build greater trust with consumers by virtue of its user-friendly design and transparent, real-time valuations.”

Accu-Trade, leveraging Galves Market Data, is the valuation engine of the platform. It was designed to provide VIN-specific appraisals that calculate mileage, option and condition-specific valuation adjustments and recall notices and integrated vehicle history reports, among other features.  

The companies’ directors said participating dealers who acquire vehicles through the program will have several remarketing options, including:

• Keeping the vehicle for retail

• Listing the vehicle in an exclusive online auction of participating TrueCar Trade dealers

• Selling the vehicle to Hollenshead at the Galves-derived offer price if the auction listing does not result in a sale in 48 hours

“Our products … are built to be the agnostic ignition to the transaction chain that commoditizes the VIN, regardless of when or how it is used. Instant, packed with proprietary data, transparent and transactional,” said Bob Hollenshead, the parent company’s president. “Our entities are operated by people with an unrivaled understanding of the wholesale marketplace. We understand the status quo and we believe the status quo will be modified by products that enable process and total transparency. Working with the TrueCar team and what the TrueCar brand represents will help enable this vision and drive efficiency for consumers, dealers and remarketers.”

To learn more about the dealer-facing aspect of TrueCar Trade, visit TrueCarTrade.com/dealer.