DaimlerChrysler Services North America has announced an addition to its benchmark remarketing services with the introduction of Internet simulcast auction technology available to all Chrysler Financial and Mercedes-Benz Credit dealers at used-car auctions. With this technology, a video camera is placed in the auction lane so dealers can see, hear, and bid on the vehicle from their office or home computer.

The virtual auction environment provides dealers across the country and physical borders with a visual of the physical auction location and vehicle inventory. Simulcasts run concurrently with the regularly scheduled auction times and dates. The simulcast auction sales complement the live sales and in effect bring more bidders to the auction block.

"Simulcast technology doesn’t restrict the dealer to a physical location, so we are able to expose bidders to more auctions and cut down the costs associated with travel to physical auctions," said Eckart Klumpp, Vice President – Remarketing for DaimlerChrysler Services North America.

According to DaimlerChrysler, the number of vehicles sold through simulcast this year has doubled as compared with 2003. Eight percent of vehicles sold at auction were sold through simulcast, and in some auction locations simulcast sales were as high as 20 percent.

Auction representatives are full-time, on-site vehicle remarketing managers experienced in an auction’s operation, and they have instituted a new grading scale to help the dealer determine the condition of the vehicle within the virtual auction environment.

Buyers can log on to three Web sites to see the Internet auctions at Manheim’s Simulcast, ADESA’s LiveBlock, or Independent Auction’s OnLine Ringman.