The Winners...
Online Auctions - Purchasing Inventory
Auction Companies - Traditional

Not that many years ago, every dealer (or an employee) had to spend his or her time driving to various auctions to purchase a sufficient quantity of inventory to meet the demands of their customers. Today, many dealers fulfill those needs while sitting in their office by bidding and buying online. However, just like Internet sales have not eliminated the need for dealerships, online auctions have not eliminated the traditional auctions. The online versions have one thing going for them at this time; dealers are more satisfied with them than ever.

The Diamond Awardwas easily snatched by GMAC/SmartAuction. This is the fourth year in a row that GMAC has won with two Diamonds and two Platinums under their belt. GM franchise dealers use SmartAuction while non-GM franchises and independent dealers use SmartAuctionOpen. Trust seems to be the single most important factor in online inventory purchasing, with dealers stating they were very comfortable that their purchases on GMAC auction sites were exactly as represented.

Dealers use "GMAC to satisfy their wholesale remarketing needs in an efficient, cost-effective and complimentary manner to existing used vehicle operations,” stated Barbara Stokel, GMAC executive vice president, North American Operations.

The Platinum Awardthis year goes toManheim/OVE, an award winner for the last three years.

One of these years, a locally-owned independent auction is going to garner enough write-in votes to win the traditional auction company category, but this year wasn’t it. Every year since the start of the DCA, the independent auctions have received very high marks. One came close this year, but like previous years, they just haven’t quite found enough votes to qualify. What these votes do create is a high category average, which raises the bar for the big chains. This year, the write-in category of “Other” had the highest rating over all other choices (118.4), meaning that no Diamond Award was named. As a result, the highest award in the category is the Platinum Award, which was presented to Manheim with a score of 109.9. Manheim has won an award every year since the inception of the Dealers’ Choice Awards.

The only other traditional auction to receive an award this year is Adesa (105.3), now owned by KAR Holdings, Inc., which took the Gold Award.

Click here for Complete Results of the 2008 Dealers' Choice Awards.