Manheim Expands to Drive Dealer Profitability in New Markets

Local and Mobile Growth in Underserved Areas Gives Clients More Choices to Do Business

ATLANTA, July 13, 2017 — To drive dealer profitability in new and underserved markets, Manheim is expanding its physical reach and mobile sales opportunities. Today, Manheim announced the opening of six new locations in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, West Texas and Utah and confirmed continued growth of its mobile auctions and online offerings in new markets.

“Our local and mobile strategy meets the needs of independent and franchise dealers through multiple sales channels, giving clients choices to do business when and where it serves them best, “said Randy Beil, vice president of mobile and local, Manheim.  “Our flexible offerings include physical locations, as well as convenient pop-up mobile sales and digital events that can be held on dealers’ own lots.”

New Manheim Locations to Enhance Business Opportunities for Dealers

The new, smaller auction sites enable dealers to run multi-consignor sales and tap Simulcast, inspection and reconditioning services, plus financing options through NextGear Capital and assurance packages through DealShield. Joey Huang of Great Lakes Auto Group, who has run at Manheim Cleveland since it opened last year, attributes these services, which are not available in local dealer-to-dealer sales, to wholesale growth.

“As a consistent consignor we have watched our sales climb.  We are currently running about 50-60 cars every other week which are mostly import trade-ins under $7000,” said Huang, who consigns at Manheim Cleveland. “The inclusion of Manheim’s condition reports on our listings has led to incredible in-lane and internet action.”

Manheim will hire full- and part-time staff to run these new one-to-three lane operations, making a positive impact on local economies through increased employment opportunities and visiting dealers’ spending in these markets when participate in sales. 

New site details: 

• Manheim St Louis Gateway, 1550 E State Route 15, Bellville, IL 62221
• Manheim West Texas, 614 E County Rd 7200, Lubbock, TX 79404
• Manheim Montgomery, 3711 Wetumpka Highway, Montgomery, AL 36117
• Manheim Lilburn, 313 Luxomni Rd, Lilburn, GA 30047
• Manheim American Fork, 221 S 500 E, American Fork, UT 84003
• Manheim Wilmington, 6220 Market St, Wilmington, NC  28405

“Our expansion decisions have been dealer-driven,” said Beil. “In many cases, clients collaborate with us to open facilities because they want an open, transparent marketplace that delivers better pricing than typically available at traditional dealer-to-dealer sales, such as bid lot sales or dealer self-hosted lot auctions.  In addition, through Simulcast and OVE, we are able to extend the buyer base and increase sales.”

After more than 10 years of running a traditional mobile auction out of a custom trailer at two different locations in Wilmington, NC, Manheim is partnering with their current host D&E Mitsubishi to build out a two-lane auction facility to meet volume demand and offer new services. Following suit, Rosenthal is currently developing a 4.5-acre property with Manheim in Chantilly, Virginia. 

These new dealer-driven sites are a result of the success of Manheim Charlotte which resulted from Manheim and Hendrick Automotive Group working together to open the location in 2015 so that Hendrick Automotive Group could conveniently consign inventory from more than 40 of its franchise locations in the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia.

Mobile and Online Sales Shape Path to Profitability

In addition to expanding its physical reach, Manheim is ramping up its mobile and digital offerings in new areas of the country to help dealers be more profitable. These sales channels enable clients to sell inventory faster on their own lots, as well as save time and cut transportation costs.

In fact, dealers hosting mobile sales have experienced a 65-70 percent average sales conversion rate and growth of the wholesale side of their business.  For example, Findlay Automotive was looking for a venue to better build its brand with our wholesale buyers and began running a mobile sale in Henderson, Nevada. Manheim has tracked a 52 percent growth in mobile transactions year-over-year.

“We were looking for a solution that would allow us to control the logistics of the sale, make sure we had dedicated support from the auction, and a location that was convenient for us. The Manheim mobile sale has allowed us to do all of these things,” commented Chad Leavitt, CAO of Findlay Automotive Group. “The metrics have exceeded our expectations on every level. Our sales percentage, attendance, and percent of MMR success have proven that we made the correct choice to do a mobile sale. This is exactly what our group needed, and we are happy to be partners with Manheim.”

Mobile sales are hosted by a dealership and serviced by a trailer, RV or portable sales equipment.  The events feature a live auctioneer and support team onsite at a dealer-selected location.  Each month, some 70+ mobile auction sales are held at 47 convenient dealer-hosted locations across the country.

“We are all about giving clients flexibility in the way they conduct business with us,” added Beil.
“For example, we see strong participation from online buyers via Simulcast at our mobile sales and want to increase the opportunity for buyers to purchase these vehicles that have not been seen at a physical auction.  To make this happen, we are piloting daily listings of vehicles from all mobile auction sales in the Carolinas on a Mobile Auctions Online Vehicle Exchange (MOVE), section on OVE.” 

For further information: Contact: Jennifer Sheran: Jennifer.Sheran@coxautoinc.com