9:18 am, September 2, 2020
Sales volumes via epyx’s fleet remarketing platform 1link Disposal Network are now higher than before lockdown, says the automotive e-commerce company.
Debbie Fox, pictured, commercial director at epyx, said there were signs the remarketing sector was developing a sustainable cycle, after the worst of the coronavirus crisis.
‘When dealers first reopened, there was still very little activity on the platform because they needed to sell stock that they had been holding for several months.
‘However, most have had a very buoyant immediate post-lockdown period and now need to replenish their stock levels, so we are starting to see that feeding through into increased demand.
‘Certainly, over the last week, sales volumes on 1link Disposal Network are ramping up and beating the kinds of levels that we saw in March before the crisis started to really bite.
‘The supply side is also beginning to improve, with fleets that provide stock on to the platform entering into relatively routine defleeting. A rhythm to remarketing activity is emerging.’
Fox added a note of caution, though, saying: ‘Of course, there’s a question mark over whether this represents the kind of trading pattern that we will see for the rest of the year – and no one knows the answer to that – but we do seem to be back into a relatively normal cycle of selling and replenishing stock.’
Major fleets such as leasing companies use 1link Disposal Network to sell cars and vans to more than 3,000 independent and franchise traders.
Fox said there were also signs that traders were now looking generally to source more stock online.
‘On the trader side of the platform, we’ve had more than 200 dealers requesting to join during the last five months, and one way of interpreting this trend is that more dealers are recognising that digital sources of stock are becoming more important to them in the new normal.
‘Our view has long been that physical auctions will always have a place in remarketing, and any hopefully temporary issues caused by the current situation have not changed that fact, but buying online undoubtedly makes sense to many at the moment.’
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