NEWS

As we publish our final group newsletter of 2022, I like to look back at what we have achieved across the group and what lies ahead for the future. 2022 has been a very rewarding year as each of our business units has achieved success individually as well as working together to provide integrated remarketing solutions for clients.

Collaborating closely with customers

There is no more proof of this than the contracts we were awarded by the BMW Group and smart Europe GmbH – it was a great example of our teams listening to the customers’ needs and then working together to build and roll out bespoke solutions.

The Autorola Solutions team has had a record year with more companies than ever before engaging it to review and modernise its vehicle asset management processes. We hear more about how dealers, OEMs and vehicle asset owners are investing in our Fleet Monitor platform to improve used stock visibility to improve the online customer journey and reduce stocking days. This includes upstream selling.

Managing challenges together

With the global new and used car markets set to serve up further new challenges during 2023 and beyond we will be there to listen and help and support OEMs, dealer groups, banks, and rental and leasing companies to manage those challenges together.

This was a major theme at our Autorola Group manager’s conference. Colleagues from our 19 subsidiaries came together for the first time since 2019 to discuss how to work more closely together to resolve our customers’ remarketing and vehicle asset management challenges.

We can guarantee that the growth in new and used EV sales will continue and our INDICATA Market Watch report has provided valuable insights into these trends. We have reviewed the past 12 months to look at how the European used market has responded to EVs including the top-selling and fastest-selling models.

New partnership in the UAE

This comes at a time when we have extended our group’s reach into the UAE with an exciting new partnership with Al-Futtaim Automotive. It gives us our first presence in the UAE and we look forward to working with Al-Futtaim to transform the face of vehicle remarketing across the region.

Expansion into the UAE brings a rewarding 2022 to a close and as we approach the festive season, we wish all our colleagues, customers, and friends a safe and restful Christmas and New Year before moving into an exciting 2023.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Best regards
Peter Grøftehauge (LinkedIn)

Integrated digital platform for the UAE

This joint venture will introduce 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 auctions taking place 24/7. This will allow better trade-in ratios, stock that moves faster, and an improved better customer experience.

The Autorola MENA digital platform is customisable and customer-focused, with modules for fleet monitoring, running fleet, ordering and repairs, booking, appraisals, and every step of the remarketing process. This includes the transfer, storage, insurance, cleaning and inspection, pricing, a digital showroom, auction selection and management, and payment. It also offers document sharing and collaboration tools, as well as an integrated “Fleet Chat” platform, making emails, SMS messages and phone calls with vendors and other partners unnecessary.

Modernising the region’s used car market

Autorola MENA aims to modernise the region’s used-car market by addressing the legacy challenges and pain-points experienced by regional automotive companies.

“This collaboration is both strategic and synergistic,” said Peter Grøftehauge, Autorola’s Group CEO. “As one of the world’s most recognised and widely respected automotive brands and the go-to market partner for expansion in the UAE, Al-Futtaim Automotive brings credibility, knowledge of the local market and regulations, as well as the proof of concept and operations.

“We bring the end-to-end digital solution, the technological expertise, the wider pool of buyers with higher bid volumes, convenience for sellers, and transparency and traceability. Together, we are tapping into a whole new business ecosystem.”

Digital transformation

Al-Futtaim sees immense potential in the digital transformation of the used-car market in the Middle East and aims to bring its regional scale and expertise into the new venture, with the hope that many other leading automotive companies will join in. It will enable the UAE to create a more organised, progressive, and world-class business ecosystem, especially within the context of the used-car market which currently seems very unorganised.

Paul Willis, President of Al-Futtaim Automotive, commented: “This venture is a vital component of our growth strategy, and a historic first for our company to enter into the software business.

“Autorola is a leader in this field and its complete end-to-end digital solutions allow us to serve a wider B2B customer base through a modern and digitised customer journey. Using Al-Futtaim as a testbed in the region, this independent and impartial new tech company will change the face of vehicle remarketing in the UAE and the wider region for all prospects,” he added.

Expanding across the region

Autorola MENA will start in the UAE and expand quickly to other countries in the region. The platform is built to cater to all car brands and corporations, right from the inception, with all client data being kept secure, protected on AWS servers, and treated as highly confidential.

The used automobile industry in the UAE is one of the most important in the world valued at US$ 14 billion and is forecast to rise quickly to US$ 20.5 billion by 2025.

Challenging time for customers

The global pandemic has certainly caused a number of challenges for vendors and buyers. And the Autorola Group continues to focus on we can help customers resolve these challenges with the powerful Fleet Monitor asset management system at the heart of these solutions.

This strategy will continue Autorola’s business growth backed up by Big Data provided by INDICATA which will help companies make strategic remarketing decisions as they respond to the changing used car market.

Customer focus

“Our group conference was very valuable in getting everyone together for the first time for a few years. It gives us a chance to celebrate what we have achieved during Covid but more importantly focus on how we can continue to provide dynamic online solutions to our customers,” explained Peter Grøftehauge, Autorola’s group CEO.

During 2022 alone Autorola signed an exciting new four-year remarketing contract with BMW Group and a five-year remarketing contract with Smart Europe.

“Our group continues to grow based on our continued focus on working with customers to make their businesses more efficient and to optimise vendor used car sales whilst supporting buyers to source stock efficiently. We are delivering this in a difficult and ever-changing global used car market,” said Peter.

Dedicated remarketing platform

“We have built a dedicated, closed B2B remarketing platform across Europe for the continental BMW and MINI dealer group organisations. The fully integrated solution provides online auction services as well as the individual components such as vehicle valuation and logistics. We are well placed to provide these solutions to multiple companies around the world,” he added.

Autorola continues to develop its Inspection App to support compound operations, dealer part exchanges and in-life and end-of-life fleet inspections. The online logistics portal also continues to manage the growing number of used car imports and export transactions going through the MarketPlace online remarketing portal.

Excited at Autorola’s future

“The global team left our conference very excited about Autorola’s future and the opportunity of working across business units, countries and continents to deliver dynamic online solutions across the automotive sector,” added Peter.

Digitising the customer journey

This includes dealers investing more time and energy in digitising their business and the overall customer journey when sourcing and buying used cars online. Speeding up the process of pricing a driver’s trade-in is just one part of this process. Once a trade-in arrives with a dealer it is refurbished and for sale in their online marketplace as soon as possible. In the current market time is money and selling more used cars more quickly helps make up for dealers having a restricted number of new cars to sell.

In other cases, dealer groups reach out to simply want to digitise their paper processes. As a value-add Autorola Solutions uses the opportunity to review and re-design those processes to help the company become paperless, while optimising efficiencies as well.

Data transparency and security

Data security, transparency and accuracy are all key priorities for public companies with shareholders and digitising every aspect of the car buying and selling journey will automatically improve auditability.

“When we re-design the process map from when a used car is traded in Fleet Monitor aims to encompass every touch point of the transaction from the pricing to the process of getting the car refurbished and uploaded into the online marketplace complete with images and a retail price,” explained Autorola Solutions’ global business unit director Ib Kimose.

Working hand in hand

“Our focus is on speed of getting the initial transaction completed and the trade-in car back up for sale. The online marketplace and Fleet Monitor work hand in hand,” he added.

A car’s status in the online marketplace is also vital. Once a car is sold it automatically disappears from all external sales channels including Apps in real time. That prevents the untenable situation of a consumer looking to buy a used car online that has already been sold.

Besides car dealer groups, the Autorola Solutions team has had many customer projects with OEMs, banks and leasing and rental companies throughout 2022.

Increasing stock visibility

“Stock visibility in real time is important so the asset owner can decide which channel to direct the car down next. If it is at the end of a leasing contract is the car being sent directly to auction or is it being sold to the driver or directed to a lease company’s retail premises for sale.

“A car costs roughly 22 Euros for every day it is in stock, so a car’s status and speed of sale is important. We have also been collaborating with our subsidiaries in Australia and Belgium on upstream selling. Twenty-five percent of used cars sold by our Belgium subsidiary are now sold upstream with them finding a new owner even before they have been de-fleeted by the leasing company,” said Kimose.

Upstream selling

Autorola Australia uses Fleet Monitor to support its upstream selling by tracking the life cycle of a customer’s car in real time from the original order with the dealer through to the end of contract dates. That way the Australian team can get in touch directly with the driver three months prior to it being de-fleeted to start the proactive remarketing process. This includes liaising with the dealer on the delivery schedule of the driver’s new car.

It gives Autorola an advantage over its competitors as it provides complete transparency on a vehicle asset from the time it joins a customer’s fleet until its disposal.

The INDICATA Market Watch report has been busy tracking the rise and fall of used EVs during 2022. From sales and stock turn to the top and best-selling models each month the report has provided an in-depth look at how EVs have fared across Europe as well as 13 individual countries.

Not surprisingly year-on-year sales of used EVs have risen in 2022, albeit it from a low base, as the supply of used cars has gradually improved and as consumer education and acceptability of EVs has continued to increase.

Rising cost of living impacts used EV demand

Sales and stock turn continued to rise until September when the rising cost of living across Europe with rising energy prices and inflation across multiple European countries immediately impacted demand for used EVs.

With used EVs often costing up to 50% more than a used petrol or diesel car used EVs became the slowest-selling powertrain in September with consumers struggling to justify those extra costs as their home energy bills doubled or trebled. That compares with August where used EVs were the fastest-selling powertrain type.

Used EV stock levels are rising

Sales and stock turn levels fell again in October and the available stock of used EVs have continued to rise into November. Tesla and VW in particular are seeing stock levels rise which has in turn contributed to used EV prices falling for the first time in 2022.

Going into 2023 if supply continues to exceed demand prices are likely to continue to fall. However, we don’t know how long it will be before consumers can justify paying significantly more for zero emissions motoring before demand exceeds supply again.

Fastest and top-selling used EVs

The Renault Zoe has been Europe’s top-selling used EV for eight out of the past 12 months. A ready supply of used cars due to the model being around since 2012 has contributed to this success along with a lower purchase price when compared to many used EVs and a healthy range. Nissan’s LEAF also appeared in our table in March for similar reasons to the Zoe having been the first EV launched in 2010.

The fastest-selling list is a little more fragmented with seven different models topping the list over a period of 12 months.

However, Tesla models topped both the respective fastest-selling EV with its Model Y, and top-selling EV with its Model 3 during both October and November and it will be interesting to see if this trend continues into 2023.

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

The new partnership between Autorola A/S and Al-Futtaim Automotive will create a fully digital remarketing experience for owners of used car fleets, targeting B2B customers across the value chain.

 Dubai, UAE, 13 December 2022: Two formidable names in the automotive industry have come together to launch a new joint-venture – Autorola Middle East & North Africa (MENA) Holding Limited – with the mission to reinvent the region’s B2B used-car market. This joint-venture will introduce 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 auctions taking place 24/7. This will allow better trade-in ratios, stock that moves faster, and an improved better customer experience.

The pre-owned automobile industry in the UAE, one of the most important in the world, is now valued at US$ 14 billion and is forecast to rise quickly to US$ 20.5 billion by 2025 with an anticipated CAGR of 10-12% (Truck and Fleet Middle East). However, the current state of the used-car market is faced with many legacy challenges and pain-points experienced by regional automotive companies, such as: Limited by manual processes and workflows, inconsistent pricing, in-person auctions that take place once a week, no vehicle inspection, decentralized remarketing processes and siloed decision-making. The new joint-venture’s digital platform will address these key pain points for all automotive companies and used-car traders within the region.

With Autorola MENA, the digital platform is customisable and customer-focused, with modules for fleet monitoring, running fleet, ordering and repairs, booking, appraisals, and every step of the remarketing process, including transfer, storage, insurance, cleaning and inspection, pricing, a digital showroom, auction selection and management, and payment. It also offers document sharing and collaboration tools, as well as an integrated “Fleet Chat” platform, making emails, SMS messages and phone calls with vendors and other partners unnecessary.

Autorola MENA is helmed by Al-Futtaim Automotive and Autorola A/S, a global leader in online vehicle remarketing and automotive IT solutions, operating in 19 countries. The global platform had more than 55,000 active dealers and 815,000 cars auctioned in 2021, with existing clients that include banks, rental dealers, leasing dealers, and others.

Al-Futtaim Automotive, which provides some of the world’s most-recognised automotive brands, services, and mobility solutions to customers across the region, sees immense potential in the digital transformation of the used-car market in the Middle East. As the leading automotive group, Al-Futtaim Automotive aims to bring its regional scale and expertise into the new venture, with the hope that many other leading automotive companies will join in and enable the UAE’s digitalisation efforts towards creating a more organised, progressive and world-class business ecosystem, especially within the context of the used-car market which currently seems very unorganised.

“This collaboration is both strategic and synergistic,” said Peter Grøftehauge, CEO of Autorola A/S. “As one of the world’s most recognised and widely respected automotive brands and the go-to market partner for expansion in the Middle East, Al-Futtaim Automotive brings credibility, knowledge of the local market and regulations, as well as the proof of concept and operations. We bring the end-to-end digital solution, the technological expertise, the wider pool of buyers with higher bid volumes, convenience for sellers, and transparency and traceability. Together, we’re tapping into a whole new business ecosystem.”

Paul Willis, CEO of Al-Futtaim Automotive, commented: “This venture is a vital component of our growth strategy, which will allow us to reach a wider customer base by tapping into the entire automotive ecosystem. We’ve been a trusted partner for customers across the region for decades and together with Autorola, who are the leaders in this field, we’re going to change the face of vehicle remarketing in the UAE. We’ll be able to scale up our business dramatically, provide our customers with the seamless experience they expect, and continue thriving for generations to come.”

Autorola MENA is slated to start in the UAE and expand quickly to other countries in the region. The platform is built to cater to all car brands and corporations, right from the inception, with all client data being kept secured and protected on AWS servers and treated as highly confidential.

– Ends –

About Autorola A/S

Autorola A/S is a member of the Autorola Group, a company existing under the laws of Denmark

• Private company founded in 1996 by the brothers Peter and Martin Groeftehauge
• SaaS (Software as a Service) Business Model
• Operations in 19 Countries (Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific)
• More than 550 employees
• More than 28.000 finished on-line auctions in 2021
• More than 55,000 dealer logins worldwide in 2021
• More than 815,000 vehicles were auctioned in 2021
• More than 600,000 vehicles using their workflow system (stock management)
• More than 300m AED in revenue in 2021
• More than 28m AED in net profit in 2021

About Al-Futtaim Automotive

Al-Futtaim Automotive, one of the main five operating divisions within the UAE-based Al-Futtaim Group of companies, is a conglomerate of motoring-related businesses, franchising some of the world’s most-recognized automotive brands and services.

Operating in 10 countries across the Middle East, Asia and Africa and empowered by around 9,000 associates, the UAE-headquartered Group’s services span across distribution of new and used vehicles, manufacturing, leasing, and aftersales.

Ranging from passenger cars to SUVs, commercial vehicles, industrial and construction equipment as well as motorbikes and quads, Al-Futtaim Automotive Group offers an integrative customer-centric experience for motorists, fleet operators and contractors alike, and strives to become the leader in tailor-made mobility solutions.

About Al-Futtaim

Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Structured into five operating divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and health; employing more than 42,000 employees in more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, we partner with over 200 of the world’s most admired and innovative brands.

Al-Futtaim’s entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organization to continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers within the societies in which we operate.

By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration, integrity; Al-Futtaim continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our customers each and every day. For more information visit: www.alfuttaim.com.