Like all of you, I love the car business! Unlike many of you, most of my career has been on the factory side. Recently, I have joined you in the remarketing end of the industry, and I am very excited about the opportunity. Hopefully, my background and perspective can add some value as I learn the business of the remarketplace.

The new-car side of auto marketing and the sale of used cars are undeniably linked. However, I think that historically, few businesses have looked at the complete lifecycle of a vehicle with an eye on the front-end and back-end sale at the same time. Today, though, I believe the more enlightened marketers of new cars have a clearer appreciation and heightened respect for the remarketing task at the back end.

I can remember when a good year in the auto industry was 15 million new-car sales. Over the last several years, that number has reached 17 million units. Manufacturers have become accustomed to that level and will do just about anything to maintain it. No one wants to give up market share. Over the past few decades we have seen many different tactics used to keep the iron moving, including massive vehicle sales to rental car companies under buyback programs, huge cash incentives, deeply subvented lease offerings, and big bets placed on back-end residual values.

In most cases, the tactics have supported high sales levels, but they have come at a significant cost at the end of the lease term or when the used car goes back into the market. I think that for a long time, many new-car sellers assumed the back-end hit on a used-car sale was an uncontrollable cost of doing business over which they had little control. Today, this thinking has changed.

Certainly, I recognize that I am preaching to the converted when I talk about the importance of the remarketing industry. For years you have been selling nearly three times as many used cars each year as are sold new. And you have been doing it very efficiently. Now, finally, we are seeing a greater recognition and appreciation of the value you added at this end, and with this increased recognition, we also see more resources devoted to creative people and ideas in this niche.

I believe the next generation in our industry will take the best parts of the existing system (bricks and mortar auctions, retail dealers, manufacturers, lessors, and other remarketers) and combine those elements with new thinking, new technologies, the Internet (where appropriate), and new people from all ends of the auto industry and outside the industry. I am very excited to have joined you in the remarketplace. I’ve just arrived a little later than the rest of you.