North Toronto Auction sees more online traffic

Stu Ralph, co-owner of the North Toronto Auction situated just north of Toronto in Innisfil, Ont., said they have seen tremendous growth in its dealer-only auction.

The volume, largely driven by Chrysler Canada Remarketing selling with NTA, has even managed to elevate the average selling prices of the vehicles they’ve been selling, Ralph said.

He also credits inventory from Repo Depo, GM Financial and TD Auto Finance with helping attract buyers and boost the upward trend in sale prices.

However, he doesn’t ignore the fact that there is a shortage of used on the market. That explains the growing number of franchise dealers bidding.

“The OEMs have a shortened supply of off-lease vehicles and the franchise stores have to get off-make product to attract new customers to their portfolio to keep up their sales volume.”

Ralph noted that despite the fact online attendance is on the rise, it doesn’t mean business is down at the lanes. Quite the contrary, he insisted.

“We are also attracting more physical buyers.”

Why?

“There is still that energy that the live auction has, the camaraderie and the market awareness. It’s instantaneous. They are seeing what the market value is and they are getting a better perspective on the condition of the vehicle.”

He said that while standardized condition reports have “high standards,” nothing beats checking out the vehicle before it goes on the block.

Ralph and co-owners Matt Rispin and Frank Panza opened the auction 11 years ago. Originally a dealer-only auto auction, North Toronto now features public sales of motor vehicles, equipment and recreational vehicles from all levels of government as well.

The auction also launched AutoGavel Exchange which helps OEMs like Kia Canada manage their CPO programs.

“It gives dealers access to their OEMs cars 24 hours a day across the country. That’s a luxury many of them never had,” Ralph said.