Fleets and dealers are starting to develop a modern, online version of the traditional motor trade knowledge to buy and sell vehicles, claims Epyx.

The development is the result of increasing use of more than one online channel over the last 2-3 years, meaning that there is greater awareness of the strengths of each platform. 

Rob Gargett, director of support operations at Epyx, explained: “While online platforms have now been around for quite a long time, both fleets and dealers have usually tended to adopt just one when it comes to the motor trade.

“However, we are now in a position that resembles the situation that has existed with physical auctions for decades where there is an established motor trade knowledge. 

“In the same way that the trade knows that one auction is good for 4x4s or another for 3-5-year-old cars, they are beginning to develop a similar appreciation of different platforms.

“So, what we are seeing increasingly is a number of channels being used side-by-side in a much sophisticated way than in the past. Really, it is a development that benefits everyone, providing better access to stock and better disposal returns.”

Gargett says that use of Epyx’s motor trade platform, 1link Disposal Network, had increased by 15% in 2018 to date year on year, on top of increases of 97% in 2017 and 62% in 2016.

“These are quite impressive figures and are probably ahead of the overall market but all the signs are that the sector as a whole has seen a marked increase in the use of online platforms,” said Gargett.

“In the past, we have seen jumps in use at times when margins are under pressure or trading conditions are tricky, and that appears to have been the case over the last couple of years.

“Certainly, we go through periods when the advantages of trading vehicles online – low cost, access to a wide choice of stock, minimum time required to trade – become more pertinent and we appear to be experiencing one of those at the moment.” 

Epyx’s 1link Disposal Network is one of the longest-established sources of trade stock in the UK, offering a large selection of stock from major leasing companies and motor manufacturers.
 

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