Manheim, CU Direct Agree First-Ever Credit Union Remarketing Conference a Success

ATLANTA - After a five-month postponement, representatives from more than 35 credit unions got the chance last month to attend the first-ever National Auto Remarketing Conference organized especially for credit unions. The three-day conference offered jointly by Credit Union Direct Corp and Manheim and held March 15-17 at Manheim's DRIVE Center, offered presentations by remarketing industry experts and intensive, hands-on sessions that allowed attendees to experience an environment that mirrored the real world remarketing industry and provided them a detailed look at the remarketing industry. The conference was originally scheduled to be held Nov. 2-4, 2005, but it was rescheduled for this year in response to feedback CU Direct received from CUs that said they wanted to attend the event but couldn't if it were held on the original dates because of budget meeting commitments. The agenda for the conference featured a wide range of educational opportunities offered to help credit unions maximize vehicle value by leveraging their remarketing program. Attendees, for example, got to view a live auction in progress at Manheim's Atlanta Auto Auction where hundreds of vehicles were bought and sold. Attendees also viewed the auction's reconditioning and inspection operations, learned how electronic condition reports are created, and experienced Manheim's unique phone booth which quickly takes digital photos of vehicles from 360-degrees. In separate educational sessions, they also explored the various sales channels available to remarketers; learned trends in the used vehicle market; and discussed benchmarketing and analytics and their role in evaluating returns. Manheim's Jon Schrock, director of national accounts, called the conference a "tremendous success." He explained that, "We got to hear directly from the executives who manage used vehicle inventory every day, and we have a better understanding of the issues credit unions face. We look forward to helping credit unions find ways to make intelligent remarketing decisions now and in the future, because we see a lot of opportunity for their vehicles in the used vehicle marketplace." ebarr@cutimes.com