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