Page 34 - GIADA-April-2018

INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS

John Hammer Rejoins KAR as President

of ADESA Business Unit

By Jordan Head, Marketing and Public Relations Manager at GIADA

As the saying goes, “Home is where the for them as possible. If we satisfy those car dealers that does just that. He explained
heart is.” This was true for John Hammer goals, our business will grow. They’re our that Paul John, CEO of GIADA, offered
when he left KAR’s Automotive Finance customers and we need to take care of backing when the independent dealers in
Corporation as CEO in 2016 to rejoin them.” Georgia faced regulatory challenges.
the company’s ADESA business unit as
president in 2018. KAR Auction Services is the industry leader “I’d highly recommend getting
when it comes to data. Hammer plans to
Hammer served as the CEO of U.S. Auto make both data and technology some of his involved with GIADA,” said
Sales, Inc. based in Lawrenceville, Georgia focal points as president. Hammer. “Dealers should
during his time away from KAR. He said leverage the association to
he watched the company closely and was “We have a massive amount of data,” said help them navigate through
impressed by their growth with data and Hammer. “We’ve harvested information
technology. Ultimately, his passion for the from auction, dealer and sales data and governmental regulatory
industry played a major role in his return. some of the technology companies we’ve issues. GIADA is the largest
acquired. Making that data actionable for
“KAR is just a great organization,” said our customers will be our goal.” association of its kind in the
Hammer. “I really enjoyed working here country. We’ve received so
previously. I’ve been watching on the “KAR and ADESA have focused on the much support from Paul John.
sideline as a customer and dealer for the data and technology side of business and It’s a fantastic resource for
last couple of years, so I’ve stayed close to how they integrate,” he continued. “We’re
the company. It’s been fun watching them either developing, acquiring or partnering used-car dealers.”
transform their business. I really like the on technology to support our customers.
industry as a whole. The auction business That’ll be a big focus for the team and me; An automotive-industry veteran, Hammer
is a lot of fun and it’s super energizing. We figuring out which technology works best is aware of the challenges he’ll encounter as
have a great leader in Jim Hallet and he’s a for our customers and looking across KAR president. He said he views the competitive
fantastic visionary to work for.” to see how we can leverage those capabilities landscape as one of the company’s greatest
across our business unit.” tasks.
As president, Hammer will manage all of
ADESA’s operations from the 75 auction Hammer mentioned that dealership trends “The competitive landscape is probably the
locations to its online auction marketplaces. have been relatively flat for a couple of biggest challenge we’ll face,” said Hammer.
Though he has a lot on his plate, his first and years. He said some trends to look out for “There’s been new entrants in our space
main objective is understanding customers’ are fairly flat retail sales, declining margins with more technology companies coming
needs. and fewer dealerships. into the auction business. In some ways,
we like it because competition drives us to
“Out the gate, I’ll take a look at the business “I think a trend we’ll see moving forward think differently.
through our customers’ perspective and is more consolidation,” said Hammer. “I
focus on their interests,” said Hammer. “We don’t think there will be more dealerships “Many years back, we’d think about the
must understand what they desire and put down the road; I believe there will be business down the road and wonder what
it into a plan to fulfil what they’re looking fewer and larger dealerships. Everyone’s it would be like with online retailing,”
for. I’ve been the customer in a number of fighting for sales and we’ve seen margins Hammer continued. ”Now we’re thinking
fronts at ADESA, its competitors and many decrease across the industry. ADESA can about things like pricing analytics, logistics
of the independents. help dealers by maximizing their values at and data and supply chain management.”
auctions.”
“In any business, you grow by relying on For more on John Hammer and
customers,” he continued. “We need to Speaking of maximizing value, Hammer KAR Auction Services, visit http://
develop our platform around their needs believes Georgia Independent Auto Dealers karauctionservices.com/. n
to make it as easy, efficient and productive Association (GIADA) is a resource for used-

32 | GIADA Independent Auto Dealer APRIL 2018