vAuto Acquires Auction Genius, Integrates Market-Leading Tools to Help Dealers Buy Wholesale Used Vehicles Online

OAK BROOK, IL – vAuto announced the acquisition of Auction Genius, creator of a heads-up display for online auto auctions, and the roll-out of initial product integrations between the companies.

 “This acquisition advances vAuto’s mission to help dealers become more efficient and effective used vehicle retailers,” says Dale Pollak, vAuto founder. “Auction Genius’ intuitive dashboard offers the perfect blend of sophistication and simplicity. Its integration with vAuto’s Provision system will eliminate the inefficiencies and difficulty dealers encounter every day as they evaluate and purchase the used vehicles they need from wholesale auctions.”

“Today, every dealer relies on wholesale auctions for used vehicles. This highly competitive environment requires dealers to evaluate far more vehicles than they used to, and the time it takes to do the proper research is overwhelming,” says Todd Kinzle, president and co-founder of Auction Genius. “Combining our one-stop dashboard with vAuto allows dealers to analyze as many as 10 times the number of vehicles and zero in on the ‘right’ cars with significantly more speed, ease and efficiency.”

Dealers currently use multiple systems and tools to create used vehicle buy lists, match the lists with cars scheduled to be sold at wholesale online auctions and gather condition/market valuation reports to assess individual vehicles for potential purchase. They also access live online auctions via a separate system to buy the cars that fit their purchase parameters.
 
“Provision took the first step toward making auction purchases more efficient for dealers,” Pollak says. “It provided a single platform for dealers to evaluate and place proxy bids to acquire the ‘right’ used vehicles. With Auction Genius, Provision fully completes the ‘last mile’ of the auction appraisal and purchase process, providing dealers robust, real-time access to leading online wholesale auctions to evaluate and buy used vehicles with greater efficiency and far less frustration.”

The integration of each company’s technology and tools has already begun; vAuto and Auction Genius customers can begin using elements of the integrated system this summer with full integration and functionality expected to be completed by December 2012.

Auction Genius founders and employees will continue to operate from their Longmont, CO., offices.

About vAuto
vAuto provides innovative technology, tools and business intelligence to help dealers improve their used vehicle department sales and profits. vAuto’s Provision inventory management system simplifies the acquisition, pricing and merchandising of used vehicles for dealers based on real-time supply-and-demand data in their markets. vAuto’s RealDeal leverages dealer market intelligence to build transparency and profits in used vehicle sales processes. Today, thousands of dealerships across the United States and Canada rely on vAuto’s used vehicle systems. Dale Pollak, vAuto’s founder, has written two automotive retail industry best-sellers, Velocity: From the Front Line to the Bottom Line and Velocity 2.0: Paint, Pixels & Profitability. Headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, IL, with a research and development center in Austin, TX, vAuto is a wholly owned subsidiary of AutoTrader Group, Inc. Additional information about vAuto is available at www.vauto.com.

About Auction Genius
Auction Genius is a web-based software solution for auto dealers buying vehicles at auction. With a simple combined screen view dealers can quickly evaluate more vehicles in less time and participate in more auctions. It incorporates both local auction and vehicle specific information to help dealers make smarter buying decisions. The program integrates with a growing list of industry partners including CARFAX, AutoCheck, NADA Guide Book, Black Book, Kelley Blue Book, and Galves. Current auction integration includes Manheim Simulcast, OVE.com, Manheim PowerSearch, ADESA LiveBlock and OPENLANE. Auction Genius is located in Longmont, CO. Additional information about Auction Genius can be found at www.auctiongenius.net.

07/11/12