Auto Remarketing is recognizing the 2022 Women in Remarketing honorees in the May issue of the magazine, and will be posting Q&As with each of these outstanding leaders on the website.

Next up is Champika Gamage, who is manager of pricing & analytics at Hyundai Capital America.

Auto Remarketing: What is the top trend you’re watching in remarketing/wholesale automotive this year?

Champika Gamage: Last year was a pretty interesting year for the used automotive market with lots of constraints. We have been closely watching the impact on the market mainly due to supply chain disruptions, global semiconductor chip shortage, and subsequent production cuts by big OEMs. As a result, wholesale used-vehicle prices have been skyrocketing, but may not last long. Our current approach is to identify latest new vehicle production trend and retail vehicle sales trend to gauge price elasticity.

AR: How has technology/innovation impacted your specific area of remarketing/wholesale the most?

Gamage: Technology has been changing everything in remarketing and it has been a “must-have tool” to be a strong competitor in current complex market. We have been using modern statistical and machine learning techniques along with regular and alternative data to drive decisions on every vehicle we sell. The ability to use data on price forecasting models has made the vehicle pricing more insightful. We also can use developing technology to optimize vehicle distribution segment in remarketing business.

AR: What piece of career advice would you have for someone new to the industry?

Gamage: Understand your job responsibilities and update your knowledge in the market developments at a daily basis. Always talk with industry experts to improve your knowledge and to build up network. This will help you to accept new challenges and fi nd new opportunities.

AR: What is your proudest moment/accomplishment, career-wise?

Gamage: The pandemic was a once-in-lifetime experience, even for a veteran in the industry. Our models were not trained to forecast prices during a pandemic. Therefore, we had to develop new strategies on vehicle pricing by conducting scenario analysis, doing competitor price analysis and inventory bottleneck planning, and by tracking COVID cases, hospitalization, and death at state and national level. We were able to successfully weather the pandemic period with unconventional business strategies backed by regular and alternative data sources.