2020 Automotive News All-Stars

KAR Global CEO Jim Hallett told a room full of auctioneers and other members of the remarketing sector that it was his wish to stop running cars and trucks down lanes at auctions. Doing so would be safer for everyone involved, he said, citing personal examples. 

That was October 2019, months before Hallett’s vision would abruptly become a reality — and not nearly in the way he or his company had anticipated. 

The coronavirus pandemic forced KAR Global to halt all of its auctions in late March and early April, before the company switched to digital-only sales at all of its locations. That continued at press time, although most ADESA locations were allowing in-lane bidders. 

But cars and trucks continued to stay out of the lanes, and Hallett, 67, said this month that the company was 100 percent committed to digital sales and did not have any immediate plans to have vehicles running through lanes anytime soon.

Digital sales are not just practical from a safety sense but they help with business, too. Along with them comes an expanded buyer base, more auction location possibilities, more sales days and a collection of data that can be used for targeted marketing, Hallett told Automotive News on Nov. 4. 

“This is really about really becoming a digital company and providing all the additional benefits of being digital … that make the value proposition so much better, giving dealers so many more options in terms of acquiring and disposing cars,” Hallett said.