TROY, MI – SmartAuction, a wholesale remarketing Web site, reports it has achieved record sales of Avis Budget Group vehicles during the first quarter of 2009. Avis Budget Group uses remarketers such as SmartAuction to sell rental vehicles as dealers turn to online wholesale auctions to meet the increasing demand for late-model used vehicles.

Online vehicle resale reduces the time and expense associated with traditional remarketing channels. More than 50 Avis and Budget car rental airport locations in the United States are now using SmartAuction on-site to increase the speed of the remarketing process.

"SmartAuction is one of the very successful new channels that we've taken advantage of to remarket our vehicles in an effective and efficient way," said Greg Thibault, vice president of fleet disposal for Avis Budget Group. "The site is easy to access and use, and attracts buyers looking for a fresh and diverse inventory of vehicles - from the Chevrolet Impala and Ford Explorer to cargo vans."

John Barner, used-car sales manager for Classic Chevrolet in Mentor, Ohio, said SmartAuction has become a valuable tool for his dealership's ability to find specific used cars for his customers, as well as help dispose of trade-ins received. With more than 10 years of experience managing used-car sales, Barner said SmartAuction's growth to include more and more vehicles from other third-party sources like Avis Budget Group continues to provide him the selection of vehicles needed to run his business.

"While the best way to get vehicles is via trade-in, I've been using SmartAuction pretty steadily," Barner said. "I've gotten a few of the Avis Budget Group-listed vehicles, and they were fine cars that were right on the money. The online environment is here to stay as it's become part of the business everyone needs to be using."

SmartAuction has been steadily increasing its consignor base beyond GM and GMAC, including a number of rental car and corporate fleet companies. With the diverse supply of vehicles from these new consignors, SmartAuction is growing its buyer base to include independent and franchise dealers of all makes.

"We worked with Avis Budget Group to meet their growing need for e-channel remarketing," said SmartAuction Managing Director Mark Newman. "SmartAuction is building upon its efficiency in upstream remarketing of off-lease vehicles and expanding these benefits to fleet sellers while expanding our buyer base to dealers of any franchise association."

About SmartAuction

Launched in 2000, more than 2.7 million vehicles have been sold through SmartAuction since its inception. In 2008, approximately 435,000 units were sold on SmartAuction representing 40 different vehicle makes. With more than 7,300 registered SmartAuction users, nearly 4,000 franchise and non-franchise dealers log in daily to SmartAuction with a daily listing of approximately 10,000 vehicles.

For more information about SmartAuction, visit www.aboutsmartauction.com.

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