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Get your remarketing right to boost value

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4 June 2021

HANDLING, selling, inspecting, transporting and managing fleet vehicles is all part of the remarketing brief.

Members of the Vehicle Remarketing Association handle more than 1.5 million used vehicles every year and there has been growing momentum behind the VRA for some time with increased membership and a higher profile for the organisation.

There is increased interest in remarketing generally from right across all different sectors of the motor industry, particular as the Covid-19 pandemic has seen a move towards more outsourcing.

Winner of the 2021 Business Motoring Vehicle Remarketing Award was Aston Barclay, one of the UK’s leading independent supplier of used vehicle remarketing services with two business units: Aston Barclay Auctions and The Car Buying Group.

Over 50 years of sector experience have combined to create a suite of digital platforms which integrate with its network of six physical hubs to facilitate the sale of used vehicles from franchised dealer groups, car supermarkets, banks, fleets, finance houses and manufacturers to used vehicle buyers.

It seeks to drive returns and unlock increased value for both vehicle buyers and vendors, creating cost, time, and environmental savings, and providing fast and efficient disposal, purchase, management, and oversight of used vehicles.

Aston Barclay is the only remarketing provider to fully integrate and connect the vehicle journey from retail to wholesale in this way.

This digital evolution dates to 2017 when the business became the first remarketing supplier in the UK to provide buyers with a mobile bidding App creating an anywhere, anytime competitive market.

With over 26 application releases to date and more than 16,000 iOS downloads, the Buyers App – a core component of its digital platform – has generated in-excess of £100m in total vehicle sales value.

This platform now combines Aston Barclay’s Appraisal, Dashboard, Online Catalogue, and e-Live auction products into an end-to-end used vehicle proposition.

The digital journey takes individual used vehicles from initial vehicle appraisal, right through to physical delivery with options to increase speed of sale including dealer underwriting from The Car Buying Group.

During 2019, it launched Aston Barclay Stock Funding, powered by V12 Vehicle Finance – a wholesale online stock funding proposition supporting SME business activity.

This is part of a ‘three-click transaction’ vision of buyers digitally searching, bidding on, and funding used vehicle stock via the Buyer’s App.

It allows 100% of the purchase invoice to be funded including buyer, online and transport fees, smart repair through Aston Barclay Enhanced up to £1,000, and Aston Barclay Assured.

It includes VAT on LCVs and is available on cars and vans up to 3.6 tonnes GVW with funding for up to 120 days.

The benefits of digital have been amplified during the Covid-19 pandemic. During Q3 2020 – which for the vast majority saw all physical auction activity suspended – Aston Barclay still managed to sell 32,589 vehicles. July saw a significant uplift in activity and proved to be its best sale month on record with 12,148 vehicles sold with 98% of all these sales via its digital channels.

Considering all the challenges – lockdowns and tiered restrictions – during 2020 the number of bidders increased by 7%; bids via its digital channels increased by 33%; and more than 77% of all sales came via digital channels.

Aston Barclay’s suite of digital products is easy to implement into dealerships. The e-Valuate appraisal app allows for the accurate capture of vehicle details, damage, and provision of market values.

It is also able to offer technology from The Car Buying Group to help with part exchanges, from simple valuation all the way through to a managed process.

A ‘digital-first’ mentality has allowed smaller dealerships to compete in a digital landscape without having to invest in expensive technologies.

Aston Barclay’s long-standing expertise also means we can advise, educate, and support individual businesses in how to ensure optimum return on investment when using the platform.

Any first stage ‘bug’ fixes are also managed on a one-to-one, direct basis as too is remote support. It also provide users with a web conferencing training portal specifically aimed at sales managers of vehicle remarketing groups/dealer principles.

This is led by Aston Barclay’s group systems project and implementation managers and covers both hardware and systems insights.

More specific to SME relations, the business has partnered with the Independent Motor Dealers Association (IMDA) to act as its auction partner. The partnership sees Aston Barclay provide the 600 strong IMDA membership with access to its six auction centres, with IMDA stock being branded as part of weekly dealer sales held at each site.

Members will also have access to our range of digital buying solutions including wholesale finance. The partnership will provide IMDA with further products and services later in 2021 to support individual dealer member’s marketing strategies.

With several major vendor wins during 2020 such as CarShop, Vantage and Zenith the knock-on effect is an ever-increasing portfolio of high-quality stock available to buyers – many of whom are themselves SME used vehicle dealerships or suppliers to SMEs.

What do the customers think?

Umesh Samani, chairman, IMDA, said: “Our dealer businesses are built on our reputations for buying, selling, and servicing good quality used vehicles predominantly in our local areas. By appointing Aston Barclay, we will immediately benefit from the latest digital products and services which will give our members greater access to the right stock and help us sell more used cars more often.

“Aston Barclay is an independent business, so the partnership fit is perfect, and we look forward to working together.”

 Paul Christodoulou, head of disposals at, CarShop, added: “Aston Barclay has shown that even during the difficulties endured last year their business was well equipped to successfully sell used cars digitally. We opened our 11th site recently in Nottingham and look forward to Aston Barclay supporting our growing remarketing needs as we continue to sell more used cars.”

To find out more about Aston Barclay click here

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Business Motoring

Business Motoring

Business Motoring is the motoring resource for small businesses and SME small fleets running company cars and business cars.

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