America’s Auto Auction Greenville is preparing for a red-letter day in September, when it celebrates its 75th anniversary. The second oldest auto auction in the country, it opened in Greenville, S.C., just a few months after Rawls Auto Auction.
by Staff
July 29, 2013
3 min to read
America’s Auto Auction Greenville is preparing for a red-letter day in September, when it celebrates its 75th anniversary. The second oldest auto auction in the country, it opened in Greenville, S.C., just a few months after Rawls Auto Auction. With its roots in the livestock trade (founded by P.L. Bruce as a horse and mule business in 1933), the facility held its first auto auction in September of 1938 with 12 employees and 42 vehicles, all of which sold.
South Carolina was a hotbed of auction activity in the early years of the industry. The auction received the majority of consignments from small local wholesalers who would ride a train or take the bus to points “up North”, buy a couple of Model A’s or Chevys and drive one back home with the other in tow behind. Soon car dealers in the Northern States discovered that used cars were in high demand in the South, and they also started to bring cars down. With sale percentages exceeding 90 percent on a regular basis, according to the auction, the auction business soon drew a lot of competition, and by the late 1940’s, there were seven auto auction sales within five miles of the Greenville Auto Auction.
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It wasn’t long before Greenville Auto Auction differentiated itself from the competition, and it soon took the lead on the track to success. In 1962 a reconditioning facility was added, and by the 1970’s, the auction had expanded to four lanes. Soon afterward, the facility became one of the first seven auctions in the country to sell for General Motors.
In 2005 the auction was purchased by America’s Auto Auction, which has built on the auction’s reputation as one of the top marine and RV auctions in the country and has significantly expanded its car and truck inventory. Today the auction remains one of the premier auctions in the country, serving national remarketers and dealers from throughout the region at weekly auctions on Fridays at 10am, and monthly RV, Marine and Specialty Sales.
“As one of the oldest auctions in the country, we celebrate every week,” says Ben Lange, President of America’s Auto Auction, Inc. “If I were to identify the ‘secret sauce’ that has made us successful , it is that we provide great service, have promo events every week, and have a great team working with our customers every day.”
America's Auto Auction, Inc. is the fastest growing auto auction company in the country now with ten locations, in Florida; Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Georgia. For information contact Ben Lange, President, directly at America’s Auto Auction Corporate Office in Dallas, TX at (214)736-7900 or benlange@americasautoacution.com. Additional information on all of the America’s Auto Auction facilities can be found at www.americasautoauction.com.
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