Online Auto Auction Action Increases

Special Coverage

NADA Convention & Exposition

SAN FRANCISCO – Manheim Auctions is seeing double-digit growth in its online car buying and selling activities, says CEO Dean Eisner.

The Internet accounted for 20% of the 5 million cars sold at Manheim auctions last year.

Eisner sees online auction activities increasing, in part because more people are using mobile devices and tablets such as iPads. “So we are thinking mobility,” he says of Manheim initiatives.

A new benefit of online auctions is that dealers can “buy an exact car a customer wants with the customer sitting there,” Eisner says. “The dealer can wipe pricing information off the computer screen, then turn the screen around to show the customer the car.”

If the customer wants the vehicle, the dealer can then enter pricing to do the deal. “It lets dealers get a precise used car for a customer rather than buying a car on spec,” Eisner says.

Online auctions also can reduce the time it takes for a consigner to get a vehicle sold, he says.

[email protected]