KAR Steps Up Vehicle Valuation Capabilities in Online Auction Platform

KAR Auction Services has plans in motion to make online remarketing platform Openlane accessible on any device and to incorporate more data and analytics into the system, newly appointed president Peter Kelly told AFN. The revamp is slated to be completed by yearend.

“We want to improve the user experience to more modern interfaces that don’t only work on desktops but work well on tablets and smartphones that dealers are using on a day-to-day basis,” Kelly said. The modernization process will integrate data and analytics that will refine the platform’s vehicle valuation and pricing capabilities.

“A lot of this is about worth,” he said. “Is it a good value at this price? Is this vehicle a good vehicle for our dealership? Have we got a history of successful retail outcomes with vehicles like this?”

Also, KAR plans to bolster Openlane’s search capabilities and incorporate better core technologies into the system. The end goal, Kelly said, is “trying to make that whole experience better and more efficient for our buyers and dealers, and in that process, making it an even more viable channel for our sellers.”

Kelly, who was KAR’s president of digital services prior to his promotion this month, will leverage his background in technology to lead the Openlane team, which has been working on this modernization project for the past year. Kelly was previously chief executive of Openlane, which was acquired by KAR subsidiary ADESA Inc. in 2011.

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