Local, online and global auction growth

Expansion among the sale houses continues apace across the world. For its 15th annual Auburn Auction, held in Indiana in September (above), Worldwide Auctions is growing the event to span three days. Increased market demand – reflected in last year’s $17.6m total revenue and 98% sell-through rate – has motivated the change of an event that has traditionally taken a boutique-style evening format.

“Our emphasis will continue to be on curating the most varied offering of high-quality cars that represent the very best of their type,” commented principal and auctioneer John Kruse, “but on a considerably bigger scale.” The Auburn Auction is scheduled to run over Labor Day weekend, from 1-3 September, and early consignments include a 1935 Bugatti Type 35A.

Across the Atlantic, H&H has launched H&H Online Auctions. The new format of rolling, timed sales hosted on the firm’s website will run alongside its traditional fixtures, with its first auction having taken place on 9 February. Guidance through the process will reportedly be essentially the same as in-person, with the same team working on the sales including accounting and administration staff. Buyers pay a flat fee of 12.5% as usual, but with the new platform there will be no consignment and commission fees for sellers.

To continue to further its global ambitions, Bonhams has appointed Anglo-austrian Philip Kantor as its new international chairman for the motoring department. A judge at various concours d’élégance including Amelia Island, and president of the jury at the Biarritz and Zoute events, Kantor will build on a 15-year career with Bonhams by setting the agenda for the division worldwide, and playing an ambassadorial role among its top-tier international clients.