Name change reflects cyberauction firm's focus

Auto Auction Services Corp., the Internet arm of the nation's auto auctions, says it changed the name of its web site, formerly aascend.com, to autoIMS.com, to better reflect the company's focus.

AutoIMS.com provides inventory management for consignors including electronic condition reports with digital photos, the ability to track vehicles through the stages of liquidation and the ability to submit repair authorizations and set floor prices online.

In addition to autoIMS.com, AASC offers livelane.com, a competitive bidding site where dealers can buy vehicles at online auctions or purchase vehicles for a fixed price, and liveCRwriter, free downloadable software that allows auctions to post vehicle information to the Internet quickly.

AutoIMS.com has over 650,000 vehicles in active inventory and that number could reach 1.5 million by the first of next year, says Don Meadows, vice president of AASC.