Old is New Again—Dejavu— KAR Global Rebrands as Openlane
On May 15, KAR Global will rebrand as OPENLANE and go retro.
Retro in that KAR CEO Peter Kelly formerly operated under the moniker “Openlane,” which he co-founded with Andrew Iorgulescue and eventually sold to KAR’s Adesa division in 2011.
Onlane, a Canadian online auction business created by Clive Kinross and Michael Stein, and Openlane (formerly Auto Trade Center – “ATC-Open”) have amalgamated. The ensuing business, Openlane, evolved to become an industry disruptor and attract Adesa’s interest. As they say, the rest is history.
Until May 15th, that is, when a new, lighter version of KAR drops its previous moniker and revives the Openlane brand to commemorate its sale of the burdensome Adesa infrastructure (much to Carvana’s dismay) and to champion its investment in and ongoing focus on the agile model that was formerly and once more known as Openlane.
“We’ve built and acquired some of the leading digital platforms in our industry over the past ten years,” said Peter Kelly, CEO. “By combining the best features and functionality from this technology and unifying our supporting operations, we will help us create the fastest, easiest, and most active digital marketplace available.”
According to a press release, the rebranded business will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker code “KAR”.
One of the most famous David vs. Goliath tales in our sector is the one involving Openlane. A disruptive force that was simultaneously envisioned by Peter and Andrew at ATC-Open and Clive and Michael at Onlane, and that eventually merged to form Openlane, has grown to seize control of KAR and steer the iconic company in a more forward-thinking and sustainable direction.
SimpSocial congratulates Openlane on its accomplishments and welcomes the brand back to the top of the Auto Remarketing Pack with similar goals for beneficial industry disruption.
www.simpsocial.com / SimpSocial (888) 829-1110
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