COMMENTARY: Manheim + NAAA, history in the making, marked by innova on

Monday, Nov. 13, 2017, 10:00 AM

By Nick Peluso
Manheim, RMS Automo ve
It is hard to believe I am heading out to Palm Springs early next week to a end the Na onal
Auto Auc on Associa on (NAAA) conven on for the 28th consecu ve year! I s ll recall the rst
conference I a ended; it was an experience like no other; the magnitude and the mel ng pot of
people from all over the country and from all walks of life that make up the vast vehicle
remarke ng community gather together to a end this annual industry event. Over the years I
have been fortunate enough to get to know and form rela onships with the general managers
from many of the auc on loca ons along with other remarke ng professionals.

The role the wholesale auto auc on industry has in driving the U.S. auto market is signi cant; In
2016 alone, 9.8 million plus vehicles worth $100 billion were sold in the U.S according to the
Na onal Auto Auc on Associa on (NAAA). The reported 9.8 million units sold represented
a 4.6- percent growth over 2015. The number of vehicles entering their auc ons was also up,
growing 2.3 percent to 17.7 million. The associa on has been surveying its members for 20
years.

Na onal Auto Auc on Associa on (NAAA)

The NAAA got its start in 1948, just three years a er Manheim began its’ journey when a few
concerned individuals recognized the need for the emerging auto auc on industry to establish
clear and concise trading policies. C.B. Drake, owner of the Drake Auto Auc on in Decatur,
Illinois, took the ini a ve and invited a group of twenty- ve auto auc on owners from six
Midwestern states to hammer out guidelines and concepts that could help them avoid frauds in
the auto auc on market. They called this new group the Na onal Auto Auc on Protec on
Associa on. In 1954, the word “protec on” was dropped from the Associa on’s tle to re ect a
broader range of goals in the industry. Since then, the NAAA has grown in both in uence and
membership. Since its’ incep on, the NAAA has been involved with several ini a ves advancing
the wholesale auto auc on industry like lobbying for the Truth in Mileage Act of 1986 to protect
dealers and consumers against odometer rollbacks.

The history of Manheim, a story marked by innova on

Manheim’s journey began in 1945 when Benjamin Z. Mellinger [2], a Ford dealer in New
Holland, Pennsylvania, and Arthur F. Walters, a Firestone re dealer in Manheim, met to discuss
the idea of auc oning cars a er watching a farm equipment auc on. They along with Jacob
"Jack" H. Ruhl, Paul H. Stern, and Robert Schreiber formed a partnership, each contribu ng
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 $5000, and then, purchased a decrepit building along with its seven acres just south of
Manheim to form the Manheim Auto Auc on, Inc. Their rst sale ran three cars and sold only
one to the general public. By 1947, the new building with four lanes to auc on vehicles opened
and soon the partners realized the general public was purchasing their vehicles at the auc on
instead of their dealership franchises. This ac on prompted the partners to make Manheim
Auto Auc on a dealer-only enterprise, making Manheim the largest auto exchange in 1959.

By 1966, Manheim Auto Auc on established itself as the world's volume leader, selling o 45
vehicles per hour or 700 cars/trucks on a given Friday night at the 16-laned auc on. Adding
closed-circuit television, the dealers and wholesalers watched the auc on from the new
cafeteria in its expanded building. In 1965, Manheim Auto Auc on purchased the Na onal Auto
Dealers Exchange in Bordentown, New Jersey, and then in 1967, it purchased the Fredericksburg
Auto Exchange in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Cox Enterprises acquired Manheim in 1968 and
moved its headquarters to Atlanta, GA.

Jacob H. “Jake” Ruhl, the founder of Manheim, served as NAAA President in 1963 and was
inducted into the NAAA Hall of Fame in 1974.

Since its’ humble start as a three car, single-lane auto auc on in 1945, Manheim has grown to
become the world’s largest and most trusted wholesale used-car marketplace in the industry.
Whether inlane, online, through a mobile device or on a dealer’s lot, Manheim connects buyers
to the broadest range of inventory and sellers to the largest number of buyers.

As the industry leader, Manheim is:

• The most visited wholesale marketplace in the world!

• With 900K+ visits a month, OVE is the No. 1 digital wholesale marketplace in the world,
driving faster turns and higher sales prices.
• Through the power of Cox Automo ve, we leverage proprietary data to produce the
industry standard pricing guide, MMR, guiding our dealer community to make quick
buying decisions.
• Have more data than any compe tor with consolidated wholesale and retail data to
provide ac onable insights with visibility into 3 million plus used-vehicle transac ons per
year!
• One tool to op mize and manage the en re vehicle lifecycle.
• Accurate Condi on Reports help dealers make the right decisions in lane and online.

Responding to Market Demand is the Real Source of Innova on

To o er dealers more ways to meet their buying and selling needs on their terms, Manheim
launched a new OVE “Dealer Direct Event” sales channel. With this o ering, dealers can host
digital event sales using inventory on their lots, without transpor ng it to a physical auc on
loca on.
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 Manheim’s o site solu ons, which include Digital Assurance, Dealer Direct Event Sales and
Mobile Auc ons, have grown 50 percent in volume year over year. That signi cant growth
re ects rising demand for—and usage of — these useful tools by dealers. This year, these
solu ons will drive over 100,000 transac ons, with over 20,000 dealers par cipa ng!

The fundamental driver of our success at Cox Automo ve has, and will always be, our people.

In 2016 [3] alone, more than 5,400 Cox Automo ve team members par cipated in volunteer
projects. Employees, together with their family and friends, donated in excess
of 60,000 volunteer hours bene ng more than 700 community organiza ons.

Through partnerships with leading organiza ons such as American Rivers, Ocean Conservancy,
the Trust for Public Land, 100 Black Men of America, the Na onal Urban League, the League of
United La n American Ci zens, American Red Cross, the Asian & Paci c Islander American
Scholarship Fund, Atlanta Ronald McDonald House and Human Rights Campaign, Cox seeks to
create las ng change for a sustainable future.

To support the team members impacted by unforeseen circumstances, the Cox Employee Relief
Fund (CERF) [4] was created to aid employees across the company impacted by natural
disasters. CERF has assisted more than 2,500 people a ected by hurricanes, tornadoes, wild res
and other devasta ng events.
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