Auto Remarketing Podcast
Automotive Intelligence Award Honoree Tom Kontos of Auto Auction Holdings
Why It Matters
Understanding how data and analytics shape the used‑car market helps dealers, lenders, and fleet operators make smarter pricing and inventory decisions, especially as the industry navigates rapid technological change. Kontos’s insights illustrate the value of combining macro‑economic trends with granular, client‑focused analysis, offering listeners actionable perspectives on a market that impacts millions of American consumers.
Key Takeaways
- •Data scarcity spurred first used car market reports.
- •Top‑down and bottom‑up analysis linked auctions to broader economy.
- •Mentorship and relationships crucial for industry insight and collaboration.
- •AI tools reshape analytics at Auto Auction Holdings.
- •Hands‑on auction experience fuels ongoing industry expertise.
Pulse Analysis
Tom Contos, a 2026 Automotive Intelligence Award honoree, began his automotive journey in the early 1990s after a degree in mineral economics from Penn State. Joining ADT Automotive, he helped launch the first five editions of the Used Car Market Report, filling a critical data void in the remarketing sector. By aggregating scarce industry statistics and publishing them, Contos provided the first systematic view of how new‑vehicle sales feed the used‑car supply chain. His outsider perspective, rooted in economics and mining, gave him the objectivity to turn raw auction figures into actionable market intelligence that still guides dealers and financiers today.
Contos’ analytical framework blends top‑down macro trends with bottom‑up vehicle‑level insights. He combines national new‑car sales data, lease returns, and NADA statistics to forecast overall market direction, then drills down to individual client portfolios—banks, rental firms, and fleet operators—to predict price movements for specific segments. This dual‑layer approach enables customers to anticipate spring‑time price spikes and adjust inventory strategies accordingly. Over time, his reports evolved from broad economic overviews to granular, client‑focused dashboards, illustrating how auction pricing, regional demand, and macroeconomic indicators intersect. The methodology has become a benchmark for used‑car analysts seeking both strategic foresight and tactical precision.
Throughout his career, mentorship from figures like Mike Richardson and Jim Hallett reinforced the collaborative nature of the remarketing ecosystem. Today, as Analytics Advisor at Auto Auction Holdings, Contos is revisiting cutting‑edge AI and machine‑learning tools to enhance real‑time auction analytics across five vibrant locations—from Nashville to South Florida. He emphasizes that hands‑on auction exposure, combined with advanced software, yields the most reliable pricing signals. Contos will share these insights at the Used Car Industry Summit in Miami, starting April 13, underscoring why data‑driven storytelling remains essential for dealers, financiers, and investors navigating an ever‑changing used‑car market.
Episode Description
Our conversations with the 2026 Automotive Intelligence Award winners continue with Tom Kontos, who now is analytics advisor for Auto Auction Holdings.
Convinced to come out of retirement and get back in the business last fall with the growing wholesale operation, Kontos reflected on how he transformed his education and early professional positions in minerals and natural resources into a career in automotive that has now stretched to more than three decades.
Kontos also touched on the colleagues and clients who have impacted him as he became one of the industry’s top experts, connecting together automotive wholesale, retail, finance and the general economy into the Kontos Kommentary and other projects.
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