Follow the demand!

Article written by Gocar Data – The analysis and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only and not those of OPENLANE Europe.

Last year, Gocar Data analysed the impact of a faster rotation on profitabilityIn this article, they go deeper into the understanding of the benefits of cross-border selling and buying, by using recent examples to highlight the concepts.

At Gocar Data, one of the most important indicators they follow is the time to sell for each model in each market. This indicator tracks the reaction of the customer’s “appetite” for this specific model in this current market. Several factors can influence this indicator:

• Stock: if there are too many vehicles of the same model in the same market, the supply is too large compared to a low demand. The cars can’t find buyers, the selling time increases and the prices fall.

• Fiscal impact: for used cars, sometimes the fiscal situation changes in the country during their lifecycle. The tax situation in the country sometimes changes during their life cycle. Some factors, such as CO2, weight, or fuel type, can become a reason for a higher tax bill, making the use of this model too expensive.

• Environment politics: changes in the local low-emission zones may mean that some vehicles can no longer be used in some areas.

• Attractiveness: Some models are considered more attractive in some countries and less in others. The emotion factor remains important in the automotive business!

Obviously, every professional seller should try to have as many cars in his stock as possible with a short sale time. These are the vehicles that have a high demand, meaning faster sales, good prices and a comfortable negotiation position with the final customer.

On the other hand, stock vehicles with a high time to sell are harder to sell and demand higher discounts. That’s why those vehicles are perfect candidates for cross-border selling on the OPENLANE platform!

 

Take a look at the data

Let’s review some of the most often sold vehicles in the last weeks pulled from Gocar Data:

For the 2 highest volume Audi models, we have a spread of 39 to 62 days for the A3 Sportback and 43 to 69 days for the A4 Avant. For both models, Belgium and Poland seem to be the best-performing countries for high rotation.

For BMW, for all 5 top models in volume, Germany is always in the top 3 for the best sales time. The 3-series has had a visibly more difficult time on the Spanish market in recent weeks.

For the CLA Shooting brake, we see a wide spread between the fastest selling markets and Switzerland (+ 26 stock days) again.

This article can’t cover the complete market. Gocar Data can only provide a panoramic view. Yet, in these few snapshots, they see a different situation. For example, for the Volvo models, Switzerland is performing better than what we saw for Mercedes. On the other hand, Germany ranks third as the best country for both models they analyse here, but with a very different competitive position compared to other large markets. For example, the German time to sell is only one day shorter than the French one for the XC60, while there is a difference of 11 days for the V40.

In short, cross-border vehicles found on OPENLANE are great opportunities to optimise financial performance, for buyers and sellers. When analysed with the right tools, understanding the local market and the opportunities abroad can only lead to better performance. Selling the vehicles the customers are looking for is key. Follow the demand!