Knowing we have the best avenue to offload trade-ins we choose not to keep through our Manheim mobile auction gives us a great opportunity to get every retail deal - Craig Suntrup, Suntrup Automotive, St. Louis
ATLANTA—Manheim today announced plans to strategically grow its local and mobile division in 2017 bringing remarketing services to underserved areas of the country and offering dealers reduced (or eliminated) transportation costs and increased velocity. The company projects a 20 percent increase in mobile auction sales in 2017 and plans to open several smaller, demand-based, Manheim locations primarily serving areas of the country without an existing Manheim presence.
Citing a 21 percent annual sales volume increase and an sales rate of nearly 70 percent for this division in 2016, Manheim Senior Vice President of Inventory Services, Grace Huang said “we are extending our reach and truly driving success for our independent and franchise clients through these two flexible, locally-focused channels – mobile auction sales and new, smaller Manheim standing locations.”
Mobile Auction Sales Climb
Providing the largest and most advanced mobile auction sale offering in the industry, Manheim added 23 new mobile sale sites in 2016. With a total of some 45 mobile sale sites nationwide, Manheim conducts more than 60 sales each month across 20 states and expects this format to grow exponentially in 2017.
“While Manheim’s Mobile Auction strategy has been around for over a decade, the time has never been better for clients to capitalize on its flexibility, efficiency and cost savings,” said Huang. “The mobile auction channel has options for every dealer segment and can be customized for individual seller needs. Our end goal is to help dealers get the right vehicles, for the right price in the simplest and most cost-effective manner possible and mobile is one great way to accomplish this.”
Manheim’s Mobile Auction program now generates the highest sales rate among all Manheim channels, in-lane and online. In fact, 20 percent of the Manheim Mobile buyers purchase exclusively through this venue. With the smaller format, sellers get more buyers bidding exclusively on the cars they are selling, resulting in a higher buyer to car ratio than is found at almost any traditional auction, in any format. Clients enjoy the convenience garnered from Manheim’s turn-key service and its fleet of mobile trucks, buses and “auction in a box” portable technology units that allow for a variety of sales environments.
“The enthusiastic response we get from dealers, who are thrilled Manheim is coming to town, validates our focus on mobile auctions,” said Huang.
New Local Manheim Sites
In 2016, Manheim also invested in a three smaller, more permanent Manheim locations in Cleveland, Norfolk and Wichita. Its newest location is opening this week in Little Rock, Arkansas (Jan. 25) and additional locations are expected to open in Des Moines, Lubbock TX and other cities in the coming months.
Through these smaller locations, Manheim is able to increase its footprint in areas where market data and dealer input indicates a need. These locations are permanent facilities with 1-3 lanes that run weekly sales and offer vehicles at competitive price points for the region. The locations are large enough to provide the volume of cars and remarketing services that dealers expect, but small enough to provide the hometown feel and superior customer service they demand.
“Our Cleveland location is a great example of the data showing the need for a Manheim presence and our ability to materialize the location into successful sale very quickly,” remarked Huang. “We look forward to supporting our dealer partners with this type of success in more markets this year.”
Launched in March 2016, Cleveland continues to add buyers and sellers every single week and shows a 63 percent sales rate, above the average of our larger traditional locations.
As dealers’ needs continue to evolve, Manheim has the bandwidth to create new solutions to help drive success. Dealers can choose from a traditional auction experience at one of our 82 locations in North America, a completely digital experience, a local and more personal, live-sale environment at a mini Manheim location, or hosting a mobile sale on their own lot or preferred venue.
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