Skip to main content

Hot Sunday afternoon

As it nears 90 today, my youngest son and I are in the office organizing things and trying to stay cool. He's patient with me and really just wants to go to Verizon for a tour of the new phone he has his eye on. I leave my phone turned off on Sundays to keep my mind at work with out that device. I am deliberating how to adjust my company fee structure and wrestle with making a slight increase. We are starting our eleventh year in business and have never increased our prices... yet all around me auction fees are increasing steadily. My expense structure is fairly flat, but costs such as Autoniq (NADA, Black Book, AutoCheck, and Carfax) are increasing. Verizon... the amount of data we use on the hand held devices... is also increasing and the two combined are justification for making the change to our fee. It's a growing pain more than anything, and for that I am pleased. Going on in to the remainder of July and peeking at August, only a continued weakness in retail sales will move the auction index down. In spite of slow sales and lower demand, the auction market is fairly firm. The oldest, highest mileage wholesale units are soft, but trucks and mid-size SUV's are strong. Optimism abounds with car guys, but the sting of June is still there and July presents the vacation challenge. We will see how this next week goes, but I forecast lower dealer participation at the block until retail improves###

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Late Winter Market

It's not the northeast weather that is keeping the wholesale market in check, it is the overall blanket of slow retail sales at both new and used car retailers! * Subaru product is the most in demand at auction now, Hyundai another sought after product line. * Toyota shows increased prices on non-recall units, but not as strong as you might assume... more trouble ahead for the giant retailer? * The availability (or pure #'s of units) crossing the block is down at auctions overall; and the old economics 101... supply v. demand... is not at work right now. * As stated last post, large trucks are softening, luxury SUV's firm. * Honda Civic strong, Buick (yes, Buick) in demand: 2004 LeSabre LIMITED with 44K sells at an astonishing $9900. Compare that to a 58K 2004 Toyota Camry selling at $8900! Go Buick, go. * It is the economy, stupid. When it is all said, people are not grabbing out for another or new car. We are in a replacement mode at auction- that's it. Chat soon
1 comment
Read more

A Resignation That Opens The Door

Just one year ago this week marked a point that I had never been before over a 30+ year career and it was a professional decison that had to be made. I was not healthy and I was not at the lofted level of dedication I'd held myself to. The decision was easy! I resigned. I committed to my team to a seamless transition and told them there would be no disingenous goodbye followed by an announcement on the competitor I was going to join. Resignation became dedicating more time to my family, friends, my health, and to the larger community that surrounds us all. Unencumbered by a business culture stalled in its own way, I relished "taking the high road" journeying thousands upon thousands of miles with eyes and ears wide open and no timetable. And there it was in front of my wife and I every trip we took: The door of opportunity swung wide open with one clear-cut decision. A year on now spiritually and bodily rejuvenated, I re-engage to be purposelful in mentoring ...
Post a Comment
Read more

In position for 2019

2019 is on the doorstep and it's a knocking! The other sound you hear is the swirling, swarming change the auto auction business is going through and a major thrust came today from the venture capital market! Not new to the market any longer... far removed from the start-up it was referred to as... and now financially positioned to expand our technology and geographic scope, ACV Auctions is better positioned to put your wholesale, aged, and duplicate inventory in front of a variety and depth of automobile buyers that the wholesale auction market has never seen. 20-minute auctions, in depth condition reports, title services, and transportation logistics combined with the efficiencies of conducting your auction business from your phone are the game changes that Bain Capital Partners, Bessemer Venture... and dealers across the US are banking on to position their business for the dynamic that is in front of us the next 12 months. Are you in position to adapt? Contact me or any of ...
Post a Comment
Read more