August 2008, Automotive Fleet - Feature
How Technology Will Change Traditional Fleet Remarketing
By Jim Hallett
Offering One-Stop Shopping
Today, a myriad of systems, inside and outside players all with proven technology, are working to serve customers with broadcast sales and Internet-only sales offering static or interactive purchase options.
The National Auto Auction Association (NAAA) Portal is a single Web site designed to be “directional.” The OVE, DealerBlock, Pipeline, MOL, and ADESA Web sites are brought together with both physical and virtual inventory in one place for the entire industry.
Recently, NAAA modified this one-stop shopping opportunity by offering all our inventories on respective Web sites. By going to Auction Pipeline for instance, users can view not only Auction Pipeline auction inventories, but the inventory for all auctions by the click of a button. Rather than creating a separate “portal,” we each use established Web sites as the portal, if you will, to all our inventories.
We’ve effectively created a simple solution for the entire world to easily and efficiently view all our inventories. As we are often reminded, the Internet allows us to operate in a truly global economy. People buy vehicles at our auctions from all over the world — South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The key is to understand that this inventory consolidation will drive more traffic to all our individual Web sites.
This solution will make it easier for our dealers and sellers to do business. It will work, but will require everyone’s cooperation regardless of competitive differences. All participants must be willing to cooperate with each other for the collective good and the good of our mutual customers.
Overcoming Challenges
Selling vehicles electronically continues to present challenges that must be overcome as an industry. How do we create a standard condition report that all our customers can trust and rely on? Customers may have to give it up for each other.
Imagine, if you will, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler all agreeing to exactly the same documented condition report.
The industry has been talking about a standard condition report for the past 12 years. Not withstanding some limited success by the NAAA and AASC in standardizing a condition report, each auction company continues to build a proprietary system, each customer continues to request individualized condition reports, and as an industry, we continue to confuse our most important customer — the dealer.
To truly expand national and international reach, a clear, concise, easily understood condition report and grading system is needed. Any fear that the dealer will be deceived must be removed.
This mission will require auctions and sellers to give up individual idiosyncrasies for the continued expansion of the electronic market, which will only continue to grow. The Japanese appear to have been successful in creating a standardized condition report and grading system, so it is possible.
Individually, OVE, ADESA DealerBlock, and Auction Pipeline have all made it work. Now we need to make it work together as an industry.