In Memoriam: 1973-2021

James Davis of Cox Automotive Europe

James Davis, customer strategy and insight director (commercial vehicles) for Cox Automotive Europe, passed on July 11, 2021. He was 47 years old.

According to a statement released by Cox Automotive, “James was a familiar and respected voice within the automotive industry, with a particular passion for all things relating to commercial vehicles.”

Davis started his career with Central Motor Auctions in the early 1990s, before moving to National Car Auctions in 1994 as commercial vehicle administrator. He then moved to Lex Transfleet in 1999 as asset manager based in Coventry, responsible for remarketing of owned and fleet managed assets.

After a short interval out of the industry with Royal Bank of Scotland, Davis returned to Manheim Auctions in 2004 as regional commercial vehicle manager for the South and eventually promoted to director of commercial vehicles in 2010 with responsibility for Manheim UK's CV strategy. In this role, Davis was responsible for Manheim’s UK commercial vehicle remarketing activities; an operation that employs over 150 people who collectively sell over 60,000 commercial vehicles per year from eight dedicated commercial vehicle auction centers.

In 2018, Davis was named customer insight director for CV for Cox Automotive, the parent company of Manheim. In this position, Davis assumed an industry thought leadership role that involved building, sustaining, and evolving deep long-term open trust relationships with customers, business partners, suppliers, and industry bodies. In addition, Davis worked collaboratively with customers to develop Cox Automotive strategies and supporting customers using  industry insight and market intelligence to help them achieve their strategic goals.

Outside his working life, Davis was also well-known for his enthusiasm for all things automotive and in particular his beloved 1959 MGA sportscar, which he used to raise significant sums for the Alzheimer’s Society.