More than $1.4 million in Internet sales for Volkswagen Credit (VCI) were posted at Brasher’s Cascade Auto Auction in 2003. Cascade’s General Manager Jerry Hinton reports that Cascade Auto Auction hosts a monthly sale for VCI, which includes Internet bidders using the OnLine Ringman system.

“We inaugurated the OnLine Ringman sale for VCI approximately 18 months ago, and have been very pleased with our online bidder participation right from the start,” said Hinton. “An average of 14 percent of VCI’s vehicles received Internet bids at the sales in 2003, and we’ve typically sold an average of 10 percent online, a rate which has exceeded VCI’s expectations. Equally significant is the fact that 69 Internet bids were the second highest on cars sold in the auction arena.”

Hinton notes that a high demand for Volkswagen vehicles at Cascade Auto Auction has resulted in strong numbers in auction sales both in the arena and online, and that dealers in the Portland area as well as those from other parts of the country bid using OnLine Ringman.

“We have a dealer in Minneapolis who joins our sales regularly with OnLine Ringman and generally buys a number of units at each sale. A system like this is a perfect fit for dealers out of the area who find the cost and time of travel too great to attend in person,” explains Hinton. “But on the other hand, there are several local dealers who participate online as well. They come out the day before to preview the cars, and then use the computers in their offices to bid on the vehicles in the sale. The live audio and video allows the Internet bidders to join in the action and bid against the dealers at the auction in real time…whether they’re across town or across the nation.”