NEWS

As we move from autumn to winter the used market is becoming more seasonal following three and a half years where everything was impacted by restricted new car supply. In the winter that normally means the market slows down pre-Xmas and then speeds up again in January.

We are seeing more used cars entering the market and our country manager Miguel Vassalo reckons new and used car supplies have returned to normal in Portugal.

In his interview he also also tells us how the Portuguese use car market has become more sophisticated and how multiple buyers and sellers are now using our INDICATA used car data to help them make more strategic buying and selling decisions.

Growth in online remarketing

Our MarketPlace online wholesale platform is also reporting a 30% + growth in 2023 as we are selling more cars that come into the market from dealers, fleets and even for the first time in a while rental companies.

In this newsletter we are also celebrating being presented with the EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ Regional prize for Funen 2023. This is the third year in a row that the award has gone to Autorola which celebrates individuals and companies that demonstrate vision, leadership and success. We look forward to attending the Danish national finals later in November.

Meanwhile, INDICATA keeps going from strength to strength as more remarketing professionals follow those in Portugal by using data to help them make the best decisions regarding used car prices and stock levels.

Tracking used BEV trends

We focus on the different used car trends across Europe, which includes an all-important update on used BEVs. Although they still only account for a small market share 99% of the conversations with our customers are around BEVs and their performance in the used market. Let’s keep the discussion going as we track more than 10m used BEV prices across Europe each day so can share the very latest trends with you all.

Our activity in the Middle Eastern countries goes from strength to strength following our partnership agreement with Al-Futtaim Automotive signed in January. Our Autorola Solutions team have reported back on their recent visit to Automechanika Dubai – the world’s largest automotive aftermarket trade show where we had some great conversations with remarketing professionals in the region. We look forward to continuing to grow our presence in the Middle East.

We hope you enjoy our newsletter.

Best regards
Peter Grøftehauge (LinkedIn)

We are celebrating that our group CEO Peter Grøftehauge was awarded the EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ Regional prize for Funen 2023. This is the third year in a row that the award has gone to Autorola.

The EY Entrepreneur of The Year™ award is a globally renowned program and the most prestigious recognition for entrepreneurial excellence and a forward-thinking business mindset.

Vision, leadership and success

It recognises entrepreneurial achievement among individuals and companies that demonstrate vision, leadership and success — and work to improve the quality of life in their communities, countries and around the world.

EY has been presenting this unique award since 1986, consistently and proudly acknowledging the extraordinary accomplishments of entrepreneurs in more than 60 countries.

Peter and Autorola are in good company with Nordic Bioscience, Minerva Imaging, Liftra, AVK and Sports Connection ApS | SKECHERS the other companies receiving regional awards.

Denmark’s best growth creator

They are all now in play for the award as Denmark’s best growth creator, which will be presented at the national final of EY Entrepreneur of The Year on 23 November.

The judges said: “Autorola Group continues to demonstrate impressive growth in both top and bottom lines and is increasing its number of employees – well done, very impressive.”


Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dpPTWjk

In October a small team from Autorola Solutions visited Automechanika Dubai – the world’s largest automotive aftermarket trade show

At the beginning of October, a small team from Autorola Solutions travelled to Dubai to attend Automechanika, the largest international trade fair for the automotive aftermarket industry. More than 52,000 people visit the trade fair from 161 different countries over a three-day period.

The Autorola team comprising Ib Kimose, Maria Winther, Anders Færgemann Jensen, Ilias Ghiyati and Taisir Sabih were the group’s first presence at an exhibition in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following the joint venture with Al-Futtaim Automotive announced in January 2023.

Autorola Middle East & North Africa (MENA) Holding Limited exhibited alongside 2,000 exhibitors, representing 61 countries to bring our new proposition to life of reinventing the region’s B2B used-car market.

End-to-end digital platform

Our joint-venture introduces an integrated and end-to-end digital platform for the industry, which will digitise and simplify every step of the remarketing process, with consistent, transparent pricing, seamless automated workflows, and 24/7 auctions. This will allow better trade-in ratios, faster stock movements, and an improved better customer experience.

Automechanika provided plenty of opportunities to meet with many interesting people and establish good connections over these few days as Autorola continues to build awareness of its new proposition within the UAE region.

Keynote speech at Innovation 4 Mobility

On the second day of the fair, Solutions’ business unit director Ib Kimose, gave a keynote speech at Innovation 4 Mobility. where he presented the values and ideas of Autorola Solutions and the single digital remarketing platform concept.

“Bringing people, processes and technology together”, was the message of the presentation, and with Ib Kimose explaining the value that Solutions can bring to a business via its Fleet Monitor used vehicle workflow monitoring platform.

Ib Kimose emphasised the streamlined process of Fleet Monitor, and Autorola’s goal of creating an end-to-end digital and transparent landscape for automotive businesses in the Middle East who are striving to optimise used car supply chain efficiencies through digitalisation.

 “The used market in Portugal is becoming more sophisticated as more decisions are being made by using our INDICATA data insights. And with used car volumes increasing as new car supplies improve it will also help make data-led decisions an edge in a fast-moving used market.

“Dealer groups, OEMs, leasing companies and banks also appreciate that INDICATA provides used data in real time which helps them manage their stock more efficiently. Fleets use the data to set accurate reserves when selling at auction while dealers use it to help them invest in the fast-moving stock to add to their forecourts.

“In addition to our Appraisal/Stock Management tool, there is a growing demand for automation capabilities through INDICATA’s Web Service, the sophisticated reports based on Power BI, and our powerful Lead Generator. We are excited to share that soon we will bring even more advancements to the automotive market with the launch of a sophisticated forecasting system.

Back to pre-Covid levels

“From the fourth quarter of 2022, we have observed an uptick in the volume of used cars entering the market in Portugal, which has provided the used car market with more stock. We are more or less back to pre-Covid levels now with OEMs supplying new cars again to rental providers who in turn are feeding the market with younger sub-12-month-old used cars.

“Portuguese new passenger car sales are up by 34% for the first nine months of 2023, with Peugeot, Renault, and Dacia currently the three best-selling brands.

“Inflation is on a downward trajectory plus our country’s national debt continues to fall. Mortgage rates and house rental prices continue to rise but consumers are still buying new and used cars which is providing stability to the remarketing sector.

Reliant on used car imports

“In the last couple of years Portugal has been very reliant on used car imports to help balance supply with demand. Our cross border used car service is at the heart of these transactions and we are seeing an increased number of dealers buying cross border cars from us online. Local buyers continue to embrace online buying and we are now seeing more activity on our wholesale MarketPlace online platform than ever before across all our timed auctions.

“In fact, on the Autorola Marketplace platform in Portugal, dealers find daily the largest national offering of both local and European cars from all segments. The range spans from nearly new cars from rent-a-car fleets to older vehicles sourced from trade-ins or credit recovery, covering everything in between.

“Buyers have also had to change their stocking strategies over the past two years with used petrol cars continuing to be much more popular. Previously Portugal was a very strong diesel market but as the market moves to reducing emissions this fuel type has fallen in popularity.

“Many dealers seek to partner with Autorola as we uniquely integrate technology that aids them in their digital transition. A prime example of this is our Trade-In app, which helps streamline the trade-in management process, from the moment of evaluation to the sale at auction.

Real-time Asset Insight

“Banks and financial institutions are increasingly recognizing the value of complete transparency throughout each phase of the vehicle asset management process. Our Fleet Monitor workflow and management system, embodying the evolving synergy between technology and automotive asset management, has found significant favour among banks, aligning with this emerging preference for continuous insight into asset statuses.

Slow to embrace used EVs and hybrids

“However, consumers have been slow to embrace hybrid and electric used cars as our latest sales data shows. They account for 10.4% and 9.6% of used sales at four years old respectively, rising to 13.2% and 13.0% at less than two years of age according to the latest INDICATA Market Watch insights report.

“When looking at Market Days’ Supply BEVs and hybrids are also struggling when compared with petrol and diesel. In September they were at 104 and 108 days which has come down considerably in line with a fall in prices. This compares with 96 days for diesel and 88 days for petrol.

Things will have to change

“We are working hard to share this data with the industry as things will have to change at the used car end of the market to cope with the growing number of EVs and hybrids now being sold in the new car market. Nearly 50% of new car sales are alternative fuels and this is likely to continue to grow, but with it the market will need greater education about low and zero emission cars.

“Autorola will make sure it continues to play its part in this information dissemination as a new EV and hybrid car market will be restricted from growing over the coming years unless demand in the used car market improves.”

INDICATA continues to keep a close eye on used BEV trends by analyzing its data generated across 13 European countries. And in September there were lots of twists and turns for used BEV values, stock levels and demand.

European used BEV sales increased to 5.0% in September compared with petrol at 34.1% and diesel which slipped to 34.1%, but those figures changed when looking at the age of used BEVs being disposed of.

Up to four years old, petrol remained the best-seller with a 45.8% market share as diesel slipped to just 24.0% with BEVs continuing to struggle taking just 7.8% of sales.

That compared with used cars up to two years old where diesel slipped to just 16.3%, while BEVs accounted for 11.0% with petrol losing 3.2% market share month on month by falling to 42.71%.

At a powertrain level, there was no respite for used BEV prices, which saw a 1.5% month-on-month decline in average prices while used diesels fell by 0.6% fall in prices over the same period, as did petrol prices.

We use Market Days’ Supply to measure the number of selling days there is enough stock to cover, and the higher the number of days, the slower the stock is selling or, the more stock there is to meet current needs.

In September BEVs had an MDS of 91.63 days which is 20.2% improvement in a month and considerably behind diesel at 65.04 days. This made BEVs the slowest-selling powertrain on average.

However, according to our top sellers’ table covering the fastest-selling car models under four years old, the third fastest-selling model amongst all powertrains was the Tesla Model Y, and if you only look at the electric version of the Volkswagen Golf, it became the second fastest-selling model.

Here are some high-level trends for each of the countries in our monthly Market Watch report:

 For a free copy of the latest INDICATA Market Watch report go to www.indicata.com

I always enjoy publishing articles in this newsletter about how customers are using our products and services to support their vehicle remarketing strategies.

In this newsletter we hear from RCI Banque SA NL AT on how they are using Autorola’s Full-Service solution, which includes the Fleet Monitor Workflow and Asset Management platform.

Customer feedback

It makes me happy when they report that we have helped ‘automate their processes, with full transparency, less resource and quicker lead times.’

We also share with you our latest partnership with MotorK and INDICATA in the Benelux region on how they are integrating our data with their digital platform to provide their clients with a high-quality and accurate used car valuation service. We look forward to this partnership going from strength to strength.

Export remains a valuable tactic

We also hear from our Austria country manager Rene Buzek on how his team are helping vendors deal with the ever-changing used market conditions. In his interview he tells us how export remains a valuable tactic for many vendors in the country.

We continue to track the fortunes of used BEVs across Europe and depending on which country you are in depends on how quickly or slowly they are selling. Our INDICATA Market Watch report provides valuable insights for vendors and buyers alike on how all the used fuel types are performing. Surprisingly used diesels remain the fastest-selling cars and BEVs the slowest and we will continue to track these trends.

We hope you find the newsletter useful.

Best regards
Peter Grøftehauge (LinkedIn)

The Austrian new car market continues to grow with sales up 16.6% in the first six months of 2023 with SUVs by far the most popular car type. All sectors of the market are stable, a trend which has extended to the used market where the buying audience remains strong, fuelled by a growing GDP and reducing unemployment.

Strong used car demand has helped prices rise by 3.6% since January 2022, the fourth highest rise in Europe in July with Austria only one of three countries along with Turkey and France to see prices continuing to rise month-on-month.

BEV stocks continue to grow

The current Austrian used market is split 45%/35% between diesel and petrol but while the share of new BEVs continues to grow, there is one distinct trend that is developing.

The Market Days’ Supply (MDS) of used BEVs is 183 days, which means that sales are rising but not as fast as stock levels are growing, which is where the export opportunity for dealers is a real one.

High export ratio

The export ratio in Austria remains high. As vendors look to achieve the right prices for their vehicles, they generally extend their reach beyond the limited Austrian buyer audience. Autorola manages all the paperwork and logistics connected with moving a used vehicle from one country to another and currently around 25% of used cars end up in other European countries.

“We work with a range of leasing and bank partners all of which are switched onto the power of selling used cars online. We run timed weekly online sales on behalf of vendors but also hosts several closed sales for the likes of Kia, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and RCI Bank to offer used cars for sale directly to their franchised dealer network via our bespoke Branded Sites auction portal,” explained Rene.

With global new car supply restrictions still impacting new car volumes then the priority of manufacturers is to offer used stock to their dealers before they are sold in the open market.

Supporting dealers and OEMs

The interest in INDICATA’s used car pricing and insights platform continues to grow with many different customers using it for different purposes. It has been supporting dealers for the past two years as an alternative in real time to the more traditional valuations tools while several OEMs are using it to provide a helicopter view of their national dealer network’s used car activity.

They can view the impact of pricing tactics and KPIs across the franchise and how they compare against rival brands, whilst an overview of stock levels helps the manufacturer appreciate how the market is moving.

“For those utilising online and physical auctions INDICATA can also be used to benchmark auction results against the overall market which supports dealers in operating a live pricing policy that has been known to change 2-3 times per week in this recent fast-moving market.

24/7 asset transparency

“With banks and financial institutions welcoming full transparency at every stage of the vehicle asset management process, our Fleet Monitor workflow and management system has become very popular with multiple fleets and OEMs,” reinforced Rene.

One such customer is Kia Austria who has successfully used the system for more than a decade with many customers using it as a full-service solution from the capturing of the initial vehicle order and registration through to managing end of contract inspections and remarketing.

Guaranteeing the best possible lead times

Kia Austria commented that “It is a huge advantage to handle our cars in an automated workflow which secures our processes and guarantees the best possible lead times for every part of the vehicle management process.”

At the end of contracts customers can then utilise INDICATA’s pricing data to set a used car market reserve and then we use our Marketplace online remarketing platform to sell the vehicle. RCI Banque is also using Fleet Monitor as a full-service solution.

Autorola has had a long-standing relationship with RCI Banque SA NL AT in Austria locally for many years.

RCI Banque SA NL AT uses the benefits of Autorola’s Full-Service solution which includes the Fleet Monitor Workflow and Asset Management platform.

The one system is responsible for managing all RCI Banque’s services including vehicle logistics, storage, inspection, de-registration, selling, invoicing, export and many more.

Manual processes

“Before partnering with Autorola we had lots of manual processes in place that were supported by limited resources,” said Georg Berner, RCI Banque SA NL AT Director of Customer Services.

“By implementing Fleet Monitor, we saw an immediate impact to our business when managing vehicles across their life cycle including remarketing used cars at the end of contracts.”

“Automated processes, full transparency, less resources, and quicker lead times were only some of the benefits of Fleet Monitor that we could directly measure.”

Offering used cars to thousands of buyers
“When integrating Fleet Monitor with Autorola’s European buyer network it also enabled us to offer our used cars for sale online to thousands of buyers which has also increased our profits,” he added.

In Austria many of Autorola’s customers use the advantage of outsourcing its fleet to a Full-Service Solution which includes Fleet Monitor to give a live overview on the status of each vehicle on their fleets. This provides customers with full transparency of each process in buying, running, and selling vehicles.

MotorK, the leading EMEA group specialising in SaaS solutions for automotive retail, has announced that its subsidiary Carflow has entered into a new strategic partnership with INDICATA.

Thanks to this cooperation, dealers and car manufacturers in the Benelux region will be able to integrate INDICATA data collection and analytics tools, specifically designed for the automotive industry, into MotorK’s digital solutions, thus providing its clients with a high-quality and accurate service for used car valuation.

Offering quality products

The partnership is perfectly aligned with the MotorK Group’s broader strategic roadmap, which places the concept of customer centricity at the heart of its core business, to offer quality products, designed and manufactured with an automotive-first approach, to its customers.

Thanks to INDICATA’s expertise, dealers and OEMs who already rely on MotorK’s services will be able to further enhance its SparK Platform offering with a specific tool to manage a delicate phase of the customer journey, which is used vehicle appraisal and trade-in.

Increased used car stock turnover

Improved market transparency and optimised operations are two key elements for a successful business outcome for automotive retailers; additional analytics capabilities can lead to increased stock turnover, whereas better fine-tuned processes lead to lower risks.

“The increasing digitalisation of automotive retail has resulted in a fragmented tech offer. At MotorK we strongly believe in strategic partnerships to consolidate the industry and offer the customer a quality and customised product,” commented Marco Marlia, CEO and Co-Founder of MotorK.

Staying at the forefront of innovation

“We are happy to start a collaboration with INDICATA, a valuable partner for us in the Benelux area, which will help us to continue to lead the automotive retail industry, always being at the forefront of innovation.”

“Used car business intelligence is our playing field and providing values to drivers online when they need them can really improve the customer experience,” said Peter Groftehauge, Group CEO of the Autorola Group.

“Thanks to this partnership, we can combine INDICATA’s used car analytics with MotorK’s knowledge of the digital automotive customer journey and offer a powerful tool to the market, which creates value for both retailers and end users.”

The demand for used BEVs continues to fluctuate from country to country according to INDICATA’s latest Market Watch report.

Whilst used BEVs are experiencing some healthy growth in used markets like Denmark and the UK, used car buyers in other countries like Belgium and Spain are still reluctant to embrace the powertrain which is creating stocking challenges for dealers.

BEVs are Europe’s slowest selling fuel type

On average across the 13 European countries in the INDICATA report the Market Days’ Supply (MDS) figure – which measures the stock supply divided by the current sales rate over the past 45 days – for used EVs is at 110 days compared with 83 days for used hybrids, 64 days for used petrols and 58 for diesels.

Diesel stocks are falling based on continued demand by drivers as well as falling new car sales which is starting to starve the market of used cars particularly at less than 24 months of age.

Market Days’ Supply ranges from 52 to 196 days

In some countries like Belgium the MDS for used BEVs is as high as 196 days, 183 in Austria and 152 days in Spain, while in Denmark the figure is just 64 days and, in the UK, it has fallen to just 52 days.

Overall European sales of used BEVs rose to a record high of 3.76% but when you look at both Denmark and the UK there is a big correlation between prices of used EVs falling and sales volumes increasing. Prices of used EVs have fallen in Denmark by 7.1% and in the UK by 24.6% during 2023 which has obviously been enough for drivers as the price gap between EVs and ICE cars continues to fall.

Used BEV prices continue to fall

Overall used BEV prices fell by 2.5% from June to July, although this was against a background of gently falling prices month-on-month in 10 out of the 13 European countries covered in our report caused mainly by the normal seasonal summer slowdown.

“There are multiple countries where the demand for diesel and petrol used cars is deep rooted and so the move to used BEVs is much slower even if prices continue to fall,” explained Andy Shields, INDICATA’s global business unit director.

“Used BEVs will continue to take their time to find a level of demand and price in every country and its still very early days. Until then export is a consideration for left hand drive cars in those countries where stocking levels are reaching dangerous levels,” he added.

For a free copy of the latest INDICATA Market Watch report go to www.indicata.com