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| P.O. Box 431 6 Mulberry Lane Mt. Arlington, N.J. 07856 973-398-2774 Telephone 973-398-2731 Facsimile |
April 17 , 2008 |
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Letter from IARA's Executive Director
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| Matthew Marks IARA Executive Director |
Greetings:
Hello everyone and best wishes for a strong spring and early summer
market. Our thanks to all those who attended the IARA Winter meeting in
Las Vegas. Your support is appreciated
NEW SURVEY REPORT. The IARA continues to focus on improving the
remarketing process. Our recently completed Remarketing Industry survey
using Benchmark International Consulting has added valuable information
for measuring and comparing certain remarketing process intervals. The
survey was completed by twenty-three consignors that annually remarket
over 1.3 million used vehicles. There are 38 pages to the report with
“time to complete” data on 12 different steps in the remarketing
process. The report is available in the “Members Only” section of our
website. We would be interested in hearing from you about the report and
any future performance measures you might be interested in. Well
deserved thanks to Dave Sutton, VW Credit, and his Standards Committee
for putting this survey together.
IARA 2008 WINTER MEETING. The IARA Winter meeting held at Caesars Palace March 26th featured an opening breakfast with Olympic Decathlon Champion Bruce Jenner who spoke on his Olympic training experience as part of his presentation “Finding the Champion Within”. This event was made possible thanks to our sponsors; ABC, ADESA, Independent Auction Group, Manheim, and Servnet. The IARA Town Hall meeting followed with Steve Houston, Wachovia Dealer Services as moderator. Serving as panelists were Jim Hallet, Adesa; Nick Peluso, Manheim; Bob McConkey, Servnet; Dan Heinrich, Americredit; Steve Wallerstein, Subaru; and Bob Graham, ARI. The panel covered many topics about the stresses of the economy on the remarketing industry. Our thanks to all the panel participants for their time and preparation. The IARA Circle of Excellence Award Luncheon featured a presentation by Dave Alfonso, Kia Motors, and Chair of the Awards Committee, to Ed Bobit, Chairman of Bobit Business Media, for his long and distinguished career in the automotive fleet and remarketing publications sector. Congratulations to Ed!
IARA CERTIFICATION PROGRAM. The IARA Certification Program is nearly completed. There are now 17 out of 20 courses available on the website. The last three will be added very soon. There are 10 people now active in the testing phase of the program and six took tests at CAR. Chris Wise of Charleston Auto Auction has completed 14 tests successfully and is the leader in the number of courses completed at this time. Congratulations Chris and to all those who are progressing in the program. Several other have said they will begin the program this summer. We are looking forward to having the first class of Certified Automotive Remarketers (CAR) honored at CAR2009. Testing opportunities will next be available at the NAFA Conference in Salt Lake, and at I-Remarketing in Phoenix. Please contact me if interested.
OTHER NEWS ITEMS.
1. The Summer IARA Roundtable will be held in Dallas, Texas at the
Downtown Hyatt Regency Hotel August 19-21. We are planning to include an
all attendee evening event at the Texas Rangers stadium for dinner and a
ballgame. The Committee is forming up the agenda now so if you have any
topics you would like to see presented or discussed in a forum please
let me know. Watch for the coming announcements.
2. The Members Only area on the website has more NADA analytical used
car reports and the new IARA 2008 Remarketing Survey.
3. The IARA Board welcomed a new Board member in March. Don Roccia,
National Redemption and Remarketing Manager for Credit Acceptance has
joined the IARA Board. Welcome Don!
4. Jim DeRochers of DAA Southwest AA has become the Chair of the IARA
Technology Committee and has started already started an industry
initiative with his committee. Thanks Jim.
5. New members are; Insight Network Transportation, Jeff Grandstaff;
Graphic Solutions, Inc, Mike O’Brien; and Vemark, Bob Camp.
In closing, please contact me anytime with ideas and suggestions. It is
a privilege to work with so many fine professionals in the remarketing
industry to enhance the remarketing industry segment. SEE YOU IN DALLAS
IN AUGUST!!
Best regards,
Matthew Marks
Executive Director
International Automotive Remarketers Alliance