CARY, N.C. -

Manheim is allowing consignor representatives back on the auction block this week to rep their vehicles during sales, which remain in Simulcast-only mode.

The auction company is also looking at ways to safely bring bidders back to the auction arena and could be piloting those plans at locations towards the end of June.

These updates were shared during a wide-ranging interview Friday with Manheim president Grace Huang and Patrick Brennan, who is senior vice president of Manheim Marketplace.

As far as the seller reps returning to the auction arenas, Manheim is “looking to do this broadly,” throughout its locations, Brennan said. Only one consignor rep will be allowed on an auction block with the auctioneer and there will be various safety protocols, social distancing and plexiglass barriers, he said.

In terms of bringing bidders back to the auction arena, Brennan said: “We’re probably going to be putting some plans together really centered on and led by safety and social distancing and masks and all sorts of other safety protocols. We want to make sure that we can follow, our team members can follow and our dealers can follow (those measures). And we’re probably going to put some pilot locations out there near the end of the month and explore what that looks like.

“That one’s going to be a tough one. We’ve certainly seen this industry for many many years not be able to social distance and follow those types of things — not that we needed to, back then, per se,” Brennan said.

“But it’s going to be very important, based on some of the things we’ve seen in the industry that’s taken place here in the last few weeks to make sure that we do this in the right manner,” he said. “We’re asking for a little bit more patience from our dealers, but we think we’ll be moving in that direction as the summer rolls along here, as we learn a little bit more about it.”

Things could return to “some level of normalcy” as the market gets into summer, Brennan added. But Manheim’s decision-making on those matters will be “really intentional and methodical,” he said.

Huang describes a “safety-first” mentality throughout that Manheim and Cox Enterprises at large and emphasized that decisions will be based on data.

“We are being very, very methodical about how we do these things. And we’re looking a lot to the CDC, the pandemic levels and data, to make sure that when we bring people back, when we open up a location that the data supports it,” Huang said. “Because our No. 1 priority is safety and the Cox family has been incredibly supportive. They will give up profits for safety. And they have.”

Manheim is still sorting out its playbook, so to speak, and it has to be nimble, Huang said, as conditions change. The auction company must pay attention to hot spots, she said. Even if they open an auction back up, they could have to close it if conditions merit.

“We’re going to be following the data and the CDC guidelines and really use that as our anchor of how we make our decisions,” Huang said.

In an update letter posted Tuesday, Huang said of the planned in-lane bidding pilot: “This change will require strict protocols, including redesigned auction blocks with Plexiglas guards, new distancing requirements and enhanced safety measures. Should social distancing violations occur, or we experience a rise in COVID-19 hot spots, this pilot program will be suspended.”

Manheim began allowing dealers back to the auction lots for inventory previews a few weeks ago and started bringing back some of its furloughed employees on June 1.

Manheim said it plans on opening additional lots for inventory previews, as allowed by ordinances. 

“Today, more than 90% of our sites offer expanded viewing days and times, and clients continue to tell us this is helping them drive greater sales results,” Huang said in Tuesday's letter. 

Another change the company announced Tuesday was that it was, “Organizing vehicles as space permits, with increasing sales freeing up capacity to stage more vehicles,” Huang said in the letter.

It has been running in digital-only mode throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Manheim recently sold close to 20,000 vehicles in a day through Simulcast, breaking a record, Huang said.

The year began with Manheim selling 51% of its vehicles to digital buyers in January, and during the pandemic, it has been “leaning into its existing digital strategy,” according to initiatives outlined in “The Way Forward” plan from parent company Cox Automotive.

Sandy Schwartz, Cox Automotive’s president and chief executive officer, spoke to Auto Remarketing on Thursday about that plan for an episode of the Auto Remarketing Podcast (which can be found below), including the plan to “accelerate digital adoption” both on the wholesale and retail sides of its business.

Auto Remarketing asked Schwartz what the ideal scenario would be for Manheim to return to traditional, physical auction sales.

“No. 1, we are not going to do anything that puts our employees or our partners in harm’s way,” Schwartz said, adding that he and Manheim leadership are on the same page regarding that priority.

“We are just not going to open a lane and let people walk all over each other and get really close to each other as long as this pandemic is out there,” Schwartz said. “If there’s a vaccine or whatever, herd immunity, I’m not a scientist or a doctor, so I can’t describe what that looks like, but we are not going to do that if it’s not safe for everybody involved.

“When we do do that someday — and I do believe there might be some cars that really do need to go through a lane — we’re going to have to be able to do it in an orderly way, a safe way and someone’s going to have to tell everybody out there that it’s safe to be around people,” he said.

Schwartz emphasized that “we are going to have to be convinced that it’s a safe environment, and then also, it’s needed.”

But he is not saying that cars won’t ever run through the lane again.

“I’m not going to tell you that all of a sudden, I see the light and I don’t think any cars should go through the lane, because there may be cars that need to go through a lane,” Schwartz said. “But we’re only going to do it if we don’t compromise safety on both ends of this … that’s really important to us.”

Hear more from Schwartz in Monday’s episode of the Auto Remarketing Podcast, where he discusses “The Way Forward” plan from  Cox Automotive.