Academy Auction Founder Pierre Pons shown with a classic Ford Thunderbird at the Ford Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan.
DEARBORN, Mich.– The Auction Academy traveled to the Detroit area Oct. 13-15, for an auction visit, educational sessions and a tour through Ford Motor Co.’s history. The visit included a trip here to the legendary 107-year-old Ford Rouge plant which builds the F-150. The plant is part of a huge complex that includes the popular Ford Rouge Factory Tour, a staple among school field trips for years in the Detroit area. Auction Academy, developed by Pierre Pons and TPC Management, is a two-year continuing education curriculum for professionals in the auto auction industry structured like an Executive MBA program.
NAAA honored Pons this year with its Hall of Fame award and his work as founder and CEO of Auction Academy is part of that Hall of Fame legacy. Auction Academy kicked off its first class 13 years ago as a “sons and daughters” program for longtime auction owners but has since expanded to young leaders across the auction landscape.
Pons credits industry leaders like Lynn Weaver, Bob McConkey, Jeff Barber, Charlotte Pyle and Henry Stanley, for helping to develop the class which has since expanded to include people from across the auction industry. Initial program sponsors included Black Book, Design Works-AMG, Direct Reconditioning, Capital Automotive Reconditioning and Used Car News, as well as Henry & Patty Stanley of Carolina and Indiana Auto Auctions who sponsored the very first session in Nashville. Academy classes travel across the country with site visits, training and presentations by leaders from all areas of the industry.
This year’s group, Class 9, started off the first night in Michigan with a dinner and presentation from a national remarketer. The second day kicked off with a site visit to Manheim Detroit followed by lunch at the hotel. After lunch, the group heard a presentation from Brittany Boone, PhD., an industrial psychologist and business coach.
The afternoon continued with a presentations from Rob Philpot of SmartAuction, Tonya Price of EBlock, speaking on titles and importing Canadian vehicles, followed by Doug Holland of Direct Auction Services discussing compliance and OSHA violations. After a short break, the group shuttled to the Ford Rouge Complex for cocktails.
The class then strolled over to a presentation at the site’s Legacy Theater to watch a multi-screen history of the Ford Rouge plant and a look at the legacy of Henry Ford and Ford Motor Co. The film started Henry Ford’s humble beginning to the creation of the Model T and the assembly line. The film covered battles with the United Auto Workers, the start of World War II and Ford Motor Co’s part in the war effort that marked Detroit as the “Arsenal of Democracy. The movie also showed the continued success of the factory after Henry Ford’s death.
Class 9’s next stop was a visit to the Manufacturing Innovation Theater, with a look at how the F-150 is built, from concept to completion in an immersive, multi-screen presentation featuring Hollywood-style special effects – laser projection mapping along with robots, rumbling seats and gusts of wind. Afterward, Class 9 enjoyed a catered meal surrounded by a display of classic, pristine Ford cars from the company’s legendary past.
Later, the group experienced the major attraction: a walking tour on an observation deck that encircles the factory floor as the afternoon shift assembled the F-150. Tour guides were available to answer questions the length of the deck. Class 9 visited another factory plant down South earlier this year. One of the class members joked at the Ford tour that the factory workers looked happier here. The walking tour allowed the class to watch all facets of the F-150 assembly, before returning back to the hotel for the night.
The final day concluded with presentations from representatives of AuctionEdge, RunBuggy and AutoIMS. Each year, Pons also offers his traditional presentation, “Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun.” From Detroit, the group’s next stops include Birmingham, Baltimore, Spokane, Wash., and finally Seattle, the site of NAAA’s 2026 World Remarketing Convention.
