ORLANDO, Fla. — Coming on the heels of a mention by Capital One Auto Finance, Manheim Central Florida Auto Auction accepted another honor recently as the operation was named the 2009 Auction of the Year by Regional Acceptance Corp.

It's the first time Manheim Central Florida has received this award from Regional Acceptance. The auction beat out 14 other operations that were in competition for the honor.

Manheim Tennessee and Grand Rapids Auto Auction from Michigan finished second and third, respectively, in the award running. Manheim Tennessee has grabbed one of the top four positions all five years the award has been given out, including a first-place finish the inaugural year.

Manheim Central Florida general manager Butch Herdegen shared his reaction to the honor from Regional Acceptance.

"The relationship is the key in any business," Herdegen noted. "People do business with people they know and trust. It is the long-standing relationship Manheim Central Florida has with Regional Acceptance that allows us to be successful partners in the auto remarketing business.

"We not only value the partnership with Regional Acceptance but also the relationship and friendships we have with the Regional team," Herdegen went on to say. Manheim Central Florida is honored and proudly accepts being named Regional Acceptance Auction of the Year."

Regional Acceptance has 25 regional business centers across the country and uses approximately 25 auctions and an external remarketing company to sell repossessed vehicles.

Company executives highlighted that sales results and retentions, sales percentage and expenses related to remarketing of the collateral made up the majority of the criteria for scoring the auctions for this award. Customer service, overall auction operations and account management are used as eligibility requirements.

"Manheim Central Florida is one of the strongest sales operationally in the country," noted Neil Boardman, vice president of asset remarketing for BB&T/Regional Acceptance.

"They came out of the gate as the leader of the pack and never looked back," Boardman continued.

"Their performance, both in retentions and operationally, was a new paradigm for the auto remarketing industry. Manheim Central Florida's staff worked tirelessly to ensure that each sale was the most important sale of the year," he added.

Earlier this week, Capital One also recognized Manheim Central Florida for highest volume of vehicles sold online.