Eric Nelson, owner of Nelson Automotive in Mt. Prospect, Ill., placed the winning bid of $20,300 for a red 2019 Ford Mustang EcoBoost Fastback in an auction held Tuesday during the final day of the NIADA|NABD Virtual Convention and Expo Series, with all of the proceeds going directly to the NIADA .
The NIADA Foundation coordinates the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association’s commitment to charitable giving as well as awarding to deserving college-bound students across the United States.
The vehicle was donated by ADESA, a business unit of global vehicle remarketing and technology provider KAR Global, which held the auction on the new ADESA Simulcast+ platform.
The vehicle will be delivered to Nelson free by ADESA.
The auction marked the eighth consecutive year ADESA has auctioned off a nearly new, front-line ready vehicle during NIADA’s annual convention. Those auctions have raised a total of $196,000 to support the Foundation’s initiatives.
“ADESA and the KAR Global family of companies are vital partners to NIADA, our member dealers and the NIADA Foundation base,” said Shaun Petersen, NIADA interim executive vice president. “Their generous donation of vehicles over the past eight years has played a big part in funding the NIADA Foundation’s numerous charitable activities and scholarships for outstanding high school and college students.”
This year’s auction was the first to be held online. The event moved to a virtual format because of the COVID-19 pandemic.