Levi McCoy can boast of many accomplishments during his time as director of remarketing for LeasePlan. During his tenure at the company, McCoy led LeasePlan’s wholesale, auction, driver, and employee sales operations.

Now, after nearly a decade in the remarketing industry, McCoy has retired.

At LeasePlan, he was responsible for ensuring that the company maximized remarketing returns for its clients’ vehicles. His team performed well in the areas of reducing days to sell, managing remarketing costs, and maximizing market value retention.

As president of the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance (IARA) from 2014 to 2015, one of Levi’s main areas of focus was expanding IARA membership in both the U.S. and Canada, and he stresses that his visit to Canada was one of the highlights of his presidency.

IARA Executive Director Tony Long noted that McCoy was part of the Search Committee that hired him and that Levi supervised many of the initial interviews during that process.

“Levi was the perfect president and mentor to have in place for a new executive director. We were both new to our roles at IARA, and I’ll always appreciate his help during that initial phase,” said Long.

McCoy previously worked as the organizational development trainer for LeasePlan, helping to develop the remarketing training curriculum introduced with the launch of LeasePlan’s enhanced remarketing system in 2007. He was a key contributor in the design and development of LeasePlan’s Quality Improvement Process. His additional areas of expertise include quality assurance, customer service, performance metrics reporting, internet sales support, and call center management, developed during his time at Verizon Communications and Galileo International.

Introduction to Fleet

McCoy’s move to LeasePlan marked his first involvement in the fleet industry, but it was not his first leadership position. Prior to coming to LeasePlan, he worked for a major internet provider, with responsibility for provisioning small and large internet circuits. Before that, he worked as a call center manager for a major U.S. airline/computer reservation system company. There, he oversaw airline call center reservations and baggage.

After getting into the fleet industry, he got involved with the National Association of Auto Auctions (NAAA) and became a regular speaker at Bobit Business Media’s Conference of Automotive Remarketing (CAR), finally leading to his executive role at IARA.

IARA Initiatives

Not long after getting involved with IARA, he continued to take the lead on various initiatives, including IARA’s first online membership system. He also encouraged the development of other projects like the IARA Centralized Vehicle Data Repository, which provides a single point of access to all vehicle build data, warranty information, and recall notices. The system, now available through AutoIMS, offers consignors the ability to identify remaining warranty coverage and provides access to all recall notices to allow consignors to repair vehicles prior to sale. At the 2016 CAR conference, he co-moderated a panel discussion that gave attendees a first look at the new system, which makes information available to all industry members at any time and includes a vehicle’s probable price based on their region.

Also at the 2016 CAR conference, McCoy was named Consignor of the Year. The award recognizes industry leaders who have implemented best practices and industry innovations, shared expertise, participated in industry associations and groups, and moved the industry forward with professionalism and the highest standards.

McCoy, who holds a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Long Beach and enjoys running, biking, and travel, has stated that sharing knowledge about the open market of buying and selling cars was a high priority during his time as IARA chairman. Because his experience is on the seller side of the business, he has worked hard to see people get a good deal and to offer the best resale car available, he added. He touted LeasePlan’s maintenance desk in optimizing vehicle condition by keeping up with vehicle oil changes, tire rotations, and other areas of maintenance.

He strongly believed that if OEMs, consignors, dealers, and auctions work together, they can keep vehicle residuals strong. Through that teamwork, with an emphasis that the role IARA plays in that regard, those groups can look out for the best interest of the overall industry, he stated, adding that offering strong products and support is important for the industry to remain strong in the future.

In his retirement McCoy plans to spend plenty of time with his family, however, he says he hasn’t completely closed the book on the remarketing industry. He’s open to working on industry-related projects on occasion.