Major auction companies have confirmed plans to run digital-only auctions at a majority of their locations beginning Monday, April 13.
KAR Global’s ADESA auction arm has since Monday, April 7, been running simulcast-only sales at 45 sites in the U.S. and four in Canada. Beginning Monday, April 13, that number will rise to 49 in the U.S. and eight in Canada. The company also is hosting two multisite digital auctions — one in the eastern part of the U.S. and one in the western half — on Wednesday, April 15.
Manheim will be running simulcast-only sales at 62 of its 76 auction locations.
Both auction companies will continue to waive related simulcast fees.
CarMax said Friday it would be hosting 42 simulcasts starting Monday, April 13. The retailer said it worked with its auction customers this week to set up virtual accounts for its new, digital-only auction format.
CarMax has been running its own auctions, branded as CarMax Auctions, since 1997. It introduced simulcast-only sales at some test locations “a couple years ago,” a company spokesman said in a an email. Its first-ever virtual auction with no in-lane bidders took place March 20 at its location in Austin, Texas.
The coronavirus pandemic has led to state and local stay-at-home orders that have shuttered businesses throughout the country. Both Manheim and ADESA announced March 16 they would be going simulcast-only.
On March 20, KAR Global said it was halting all its ADESA auctions, both physical and digital-only, for at least two weeks.
Manheim has continued to run digital-only auctions where it was permitted by state and local ordinances.
