3:21 pm, March 21, 2012
MORE than 500 convertibles, generating a turnover of £4.5m, have been sold at two special BCA LexAutolease sales.
Large crowds of buyers and hundreds of online bidders participated in the special Lex Autolease Convertible sales staged simultaneously at the BCA Blackbushe, Surrey and Belle Vue, Manchester auction centres on St Patrick’s Day.
More than 500 convertibles were sold at the two auction centres at an average value of nearly £9k. The event combined physical bidding, Live Online and a special ‘Bid Now’ online auction. Each sale was also streamed live via LCD screens into the alternate location, allowing buyers in one venue to bid in real time on cars being sold in the other.
The number of registered buyers for the sales at the two locations stood at more than 400, with a further 502 Live Online bidders participating via their PCs, laptops and mobile devices. 50 per cent of the cars (252) were sold to Live Online buyers, representing a value of £2.25m. Overall performance exceeded 103 per cent of CAP Clean.
Both sales were open to the public, and every convertible offered was covered by the BCA Assured programme, giving peace of mind to buyers by providing a report on a 30-point mechanical check carried out by an independent motoring organisation.
Dale Evans, northern area auction manager for Lex Autolease, said: ‘This was a sophisticated and complex two day sales programme that involved two venues, bespoke online sales channels and live video streaming. Our close working partnership with BCA gives us the opportunity to try such new initiatives with confidence and the result speaks for itself.’
BCA’s corporate account manager for Lex Autolease, Alan Gupwell, added: ‘This result underlines the growing importance of the online buyer in the remarketing mix – half of the cars were brought by BCA’s online customers, representing £2.25m of the £4.5m value generated. Successful multi-platform events such as this typify the innovative remarketing partnership between Lex Autolease and BCA.’
