CARMEL, Ind. – KAR Global and Black Book announced an expanded relationship aimed at helping franchise and independent car dealers, OEMs, and third-party providers deliver a faster, easier and more digital experience to their retail consumers. By integrating Black Book’s industry-leading VIN decoding and pricing algorithms with KAR’s digital capabilities, industry-related companies of any size will be able to deliver instant, VIN specific guaranteed trade-in values to consumers via their own website or mobile app. The relationship will also leverage KAR’s rapidly growing digital dealer-to-dealer marketplace, BacklotCars, to help dealers wholesale any unwanted trade-in inventory that results from those retail sales.
“Today’s retail consumers want a more digital car buying experience, and KAR is uniquely positioned to help dealers deliver on those expectations,” said Peter Kelly, CEO of KAR Global. “Together with Black Book, we can provide dealers with AI-driven pricing tools that allow them to make firm, accurate and real-time offers on consumer trades. By guaranteeing those prices, we de-risk the trade-in process so dealers can focus on and accelerate their retail transactions. And for those unwanted trade-ins that aren’t the right fit, we’ll provide near-instant liquidity by launching those vehicles on BacklotCars directly from the dealer’s lot.”
With just the vehicle VIN or license plate, companies will be able to quickly and confidently make trade-in offers while alleviating risk and protecting their margins. Black Book’s industry-leading VIN decoding allows more accurate deciphering of trim and installed options, resulting in more precise offers. The offers are valid for a limited time and shared via QR code for easy redemption by the consumer at a participating dealership. Dealers can then validate the described condition and choose to keep the vehicle, accepting the guaranteed trade-in value amount. If they choose to sell, the dealer enters the redemption code on BacklotCars to generate the paperwork and initiate the sale process.
“At Black Book, we use data to help OEMs, dealers, industry-related providers, and consumers make the best, most informed buying and selling decisions possible,” said Jared Kalfus, EVP, Revenue of Black Book. “KAR’s digital marketplace capabilities and strong relationships make them the perfect partner to extend and enhance the value Black Book delivers to our automotive community. This partnership will empower industry-related companies, helping them engage with consumers across the digital continuum – from first click through engagement, pricing, trade-in and sale. There is strong and growing national interest throughout the automotive sector, and we look forward to operationalizing and scaling this solution with them over the coming months.”
The partnership builds upon Black Book’s longstanding relationship with KAR Global, including ADESA, KAR’s flagship digital marketplace that supports more than 70,000 marketplace participants each year. Together, the two brands provide a unique offering, pairing a leader in industry data and analytics with a leader in wholesale used vehicle digital marketplaces. The collaboration is currently in pilot phase with many potential users and will quickly expand, resulting in more transactions, and more vertical integration with dealers, other SaaS companies, and OEMs.
