Manheim Auctions
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| Subsidiary of Cox Automotive | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1945 |
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia |
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Number of locations
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145 |
| Parent | Cox Enterprises |
| Website | www |
Manheim, Inc. is an automobile auction company and the world's largest wholesale auto auction based on trade volume with 145 auctions located in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. As a subsidiary of privately owned Cox Enterprises, Inc. based in Atlanta, Georgia, Manheim's primary business is wholesaling vehicles via a bidding process using traditional and online formats. Manheim also provides other vital dealership and wholesale services, such as financing, title work, transportation (auto hauling), recovery, auto body repair, dealership management systems, dent repair and automotive reconditioning, and automotive re-marketing at each location.
In 1945, Benjamin Z. Mellinger, a Ford dealer in New Holland, Pennsylvania, and Arthur F. Walters, a Firestone tire dealer in Manheim, met to discuss the idea of auctioning cars after watching a farm equipment auction. They with Jacob "Jack" H. Ruhl, Paul H. Stern, and Robert Schreiber formed a partnership, each contributing $5000, and then, purchased a decrepit building along with its seven acres just south of Manheim to form the Manheim Auto Auction, Inc.. Their first sale ran three cars and sold just one to the general public. By 1947, the new building with four lanes to auction vehicles opened and soon the partners realized the general public was purchasing their vehicles at the auction instead of their dealership franchises. This action prompted the partners to make Manheim Auto Auction a dealer-only enterprise, making Manheim the largest auto exchange in 1959.
By 1966, Manheim Auto Auction established itself as the world's volume leader, selling off 45 vehicles per hour or 700 cars/trucks on a given Friday night at the 16-laned auction. Adding closed-circuit television, the dealers and wholesalers watched the auction from the new cafeteria in its expanded building. In 1965, Manheim Auto Auction purchased the National Auto Dealers Exchange in Bordentown, New Jersey, and then in 1967, it purchased the Fredericksburg Auto Exchange in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Thus, the partners made Manheim attractive for a potential buyer.
Cox Enterprises entered the auto auction business in 1968, when it purchased Manheim Auto Auction in Manheim, Pennsylvania. Under Cox, Manheim continued to expand by providing vital services, such as reconditioning, recovery, and auto hauling, to both dealership and wholesalers. By the end of the 20th century, the Manheim Auto Auctions had advanced its sales by adding information technology (online sales). Today, Cox Enterprises owns 98% of Auto Trader, one of the world’s leading providers of online and print automotive consumer information.
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Wikipedia