Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
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valued business partner."
After hitting Gold last year, Capital One Auto Finance (another frequent winner) jumped up to take the Platinum Award for 2012, marking the company's fourth award in this category. Wells Fargo Auto Finance also held onto a spot in the top three with the Gold Award, closely followed by GM Financial/AmeriCredit in fourth place, Chase Custom in fifth and Santander Consumer USA in sixth.
Online Auctions Purchasing Inventory
Winning the Diamond Award for the second consecutive year is Manheim. "The same customer focus that keeps us in the top categories for traditional auctions services provides the energy and passion to our online channel," stated Joe George, group vice president of online solutions for Manheim. "Our team has aggressively evolved the Manheim online marketplace to match the changing needs and wants of our customers. OVE allows our customer 24/7 access to the largest inventory supported by the best operations team in the industry!"
With this year's Platinum Award win, Ally SmartAuction not only earned Double-Platinum status but also contin- ued its streak as the only provider to win an award in the category every year since the inception of the Dealers' Choice Awards.
"It's a great tribute to our team to receive a Dealers' Choice Award for the eighth consecutive year," said Steve Kapusta, vice president of Ally SmartAuction. "We are proud of our relationships with a number of key consignors which help to keep SmartAuction fresh, and we've added links to transportation providers, vehicle history reports and valuation guides to enhance the dealer experience. It's an honor to be recognized by Auto Dealer Monthly for these efforts."
ADESA returned to claim their first-ever Diamond Award in this category after a three-year hiatus. "There's nothing better than being recognized by your customers. This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our employees at all of our North American locations," said ADESA Senior Vice Pres- ident of Dealer Sales and Services Tim Zierden. "We're committed to delivering the highest level of service and support possible to our customers, and I think they appreciate that. Hopefully this award confirms that we're hitting that mark when it comes to customer service."
With only a half a point separating the top two this year, Manheim took the Plat- inum Award. "Manheim continues to put an emphasis on helping our dealers succeed, helping them become more profitable and efficient with the tools and channels we are able to provide," said Susie Heins, vice president of dealer serv- ices for Manheim. "It is exciting to know that dealers feel we are here for them."
Inventory Management Tool
The honor of winning the Diamond Award goes to vAuto. With this year's win the company, acquired by Auto- Trader.com in 2010, can now claim the title of Triple-Diamond Winner. "vAuto is proud to receive the Diamond Award for the third consecutive year," said Keith Jezek, vAuto president. "This award rep- resents a positive return on our promise to our dealer customers: vAuto provides superior technology and individualized,
when the Dealers' Choice Awards began eight years ago. At that point, many dealers weren't com- fortable buying without physically seeing the vehicle beforehand. Now many dealers believe buying
S
Auction Companies Traditional
ometimes it's hard to believe online auctions were considered a new concept
online is the best use of their time and resources. Last year's winners held on to their awards for the second year in a row, although less than a point separated them this year.
best-in-class coaching and training to improve dealership inventory management performance. We are grateful that dealers take the time to publicly express their satisfaction with vAuto's technology and team by selecting us again to receive the Diamond Award."
Dealer Management Systems
The Diamond Award went to DealerTrack, now a four-time Diamond Award winner in the category. "We are honored that dealers have chosen us for the fourth year in a row as the Dealers' Choice Diamond Award winner," said Allan Stejskal, vice president and general manager, DealerTrack DMS. "Delivering smarter technology and robust functionality to the market were keys in gaining dealers' support, but it is building a true partnership with our clients that clearly sets us apart."
Reynolds & Reynolds received the Platinum Award, making it three in a row and earning the company Triple-Platinum status; it's also the only company to win an award in the DMS category every year of the DCAs. "We take a lot of pride in being rated consistently as among the best providers of software and services to automotive retailers – eight years run- ning," said Trey Hiers, vice president of marketing at Reynolds and Reynolds. "We have remained committed to product development, even through the past recession. Those investments have begun to deliver new products on a number of fronts, including the DMS, as we highlighted at the NADA show earlier this year."
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