Two online remarketing companies which sell ex-fleet cars to the public have secured additional funding as they step up efforts to wrestle market share away from traditional auction companies.

Autoquake and Carsite believe that online resellers could account for around 40% of the near one million ex-fleet cars sold each year at auction – some 400,000 units.

Although their combined volumes are some way off that – Autoquake expects to sell 15,000 units this year, Carsite 9,000 – both companies predict rapid growth.

Autoquake has doubled the number of cars it has sold in the past six months and forecasts 30,000 sales next year. Carsite expects to push its volumes to 15,000.

Garry Hobson, Autoquake chief executive officer, told Fleet News that the 400,000 per year mark might be achieved by online resellers as soon as 2015. If the predictions are correct, traditional auctions will lose almost half their annual volumes.

Autoquake has secured £4 million of venture capital funding in addition to the £10 million it already has in the bank.

The money will be used to buy additional inspection and distribution centres in London and Bristol.

It recently opened a centre in Leeds, which complements its existing site in Birmingham.

When all four centres are operational by the start of 2010, Autoquake will have the capacity to handle 30,000 cars a year.

“By the end of 2012, we plan to be doing 40 to 50,000 cars a year,” said Hobson. “That makes us a substantial player. We will take some business from the auctions, but we will not decimate them.”

Last year only two of the top 20 lease companies in the FN50 used Autoquake. Now 11 do with another expected to sign within days.

“We expect to have 15 of the top 20 by the end of the year,” predicts Hobson.

Carsite, which works with nine FN50 firms, is equally bullish. It has just secured fresh investment by selling a small stake in the business to four private individuals.

Each was chosen from a group of interested bidders for their skills and experience to help Carsite expand.

The company, which is planning a network of five handover centres, recently launched Preview, which sells cars that have not yet come off lease. Autoquake is developing a similar service.

Carsite founder Douglas Rotberg said: “We’re ready to go to the next stage without having to sacrifice major equity dilution.”

BCA said it recognises the challenge. “It’s our role to make sure we offer those alternatives ourselves,” said BCA’s Tony Gannon.

“We are constantly evolving and adapting to take advantage of leaps in technology.

“We will sell more cars electronically in a month than many alternative players will sell in a year.

"It just so happens that we also sell several hundred thousand cars, vans and trucks by ‘traditional’ auction methods.”