Our Team

Powered by Professionals

Manheim Consulting is built on the knowledge and experience of its team of consultants. Over the years, Manheim Consulting has established itself as a trusted advisor to the automotive industry. Professionals from a diverse set of backgrounds help develop a perspective that is truly unparalleled in the industry. 

Our team accesses the extensive database represented by the more than 10 million vehicles posted annually online or run in Manheim auction lanes. We apply data mining, targeted research, competitive benchmarking, and quantitative analyses to provide unbiased reporting and strategic advice.

Jonathan Smoke

Chief Economist

Smoke leads Cox Automotive’s economic industry insights office. This office is tasked with leveraging data to expand Cox Automotive’s deep expertise in all aspects of the automotive industry. His focus is to connect the data from all of the company’s businesses and platforms and relate to economic, industry and demographic trends.

Prior to joining Cox Automotive, Smoke served as Realtor.com’s chief economist. Before that, he was the chief economist for Hanley Wood, a media and market intelligence company, and also served in a variety of roles at Beazer Homes, including senior vice president of strategy and innovation.

Smoke was named one of “the 21 most interesting people in real estate” by Inman News and was the only economist to make the list in 2016. He is quoted in national news outlets and has published more than 150 original articles. Smoke blogs regularly and tweets using Twitter handle @SmokeonCars to share his industry insights.

Smoke holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and religious studies from Rhodes College and a master’s degree in business from The University of Texas at Austin.

Nancy Hill

Director, Customer Consulting

Nancy Hill joined Manheim Consulting in 2006 and has over 13 years’ experience in the automotive remarketing industry. Her experience includes consulting with customers in the bank, rental, captive finance, dealer and commercial fleet segments, leading initiatives to help improve remarketing strategies. Key projects include recon ROI analysis, footprint optimization, and optimal location recommendations. Additionally, Nancy authored several studies, covering topics such as location/sale day consolidation, rental detail ROI, and understanding which vehicles have the highest success rates in online sales. Nancy has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Georgia and an MBA from Mercer University.

Chris Frey

Senior Manager, Customer Consulting

Chris Frey joined Manheim Consulting in 2013 and has 3 years of automotive remarketing experience. He currently creates custom analyses that focus on peer benchmarking, inventory and location optimization, ROI by reconditioning item, and price and sales trending and forecasting. Chris’ prior experience includes economic forecasting at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and developing vehicle valuation models and forecasts for Penton Media’s EquipmentWatch unit. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science from Georgia Institute of Technology and an MA in Economics from Georgia State University.

Strategy, Research, and Analysis