As part of our series looking at how Copart Automotive helps the fleet, finance, retail and rental sectors to realise amazing returns on their vehicles, Nick Whalley leads us through how his new role drives real value for his customers.
Nick arrived at Copart at an eventful time in April 2020 – as the entire UK was in full lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, it’s fair to say a lot has happened not only in the wider world, but within Copart UK as well.
Nick’s role at Copart is to help new customers, through the provision of specialist remarketing solutions, to realise returns on their vehicle assets.
How has your time been at Copart since joining back in April?
Joining a new company in the heart of national lockdown certainly felt different to a typical induction. The support from my ‘virtual’ teammates has been great, and most importantly I’ve been able to meet a huge range of contacts and prospects – albeit virtually.
It’s been a positive period for sure and it’s been great to support our key clients across rental, retail, fleet and finance in realising returns through our auctions, which have been going great guns.
What kind of businesses have you been able to help so far?
Not only have we been able to support our existing customers, but have also successfully been able to identify increased opportunities within the sectors in which Copart Automotive operate in in the UK.
With new customers coming on board in the retail, finance, leasing and fleet sectors we are always looking to develop bespoke services to our customers’ requirements. Generally speaking, it’s a combination of being able to help with the handling and disposal of problematic vehicles – and the speed of vehicle turn around and realising returns – that is key.
We understand that each of the sectors we operate in have different requirements. We listen to our clients ‘wants and needs’ to help develop the solutions that we offer. These in turn help them to remarket vehicles to our global buyer base. As a result, our customers can capitalise on our strengths in handling and remarketing sub-optimal or more problematic vehicles, like repossessions or MOT fails.
This means in my role I’m helping a range of companies in the automotive sector, including leasing, finance, rental and retailers.
What are the top three things you think Copart can help companies with, in terms of vehicle remarketing?
- Providing access to a large, unique and global buyer base who are actively seeking these vehicles
- A complete remarketing solution including capacity for vehicle storage, vehicle preparation and presentation through our unique ‘live lane’ online auctions.
- Easing the ‘disposal challenge’ of vehicles that can more complex or problematic – we take the pain away.
Have you seen any trends in buyer activity throughout lockdown and as restrictions have eased?
The used car market has been extremely buoyant throughout lockdown with our auctions generating market leading results for our customers. It’s become even more competitive on the buyer side, and we are seeing more bidding activity, more vehicles being added to watchlists, and lots of pre-bids being registered against our customers vehicles.
Whilst we have always had competitive auctions (it’s why we are unique), demand for our customers vehicles continues to rise and rise.
What would your advice be for companies with sub-optimal vehicles that cause issues when it comes to remarketing?
We undoubtedly have the largest and most competitive arena for sub-optimal vehicles.
Copart have a track record of achieving YOY increased sales returns for our customers. If you’re sending a vehicle with 160k miles on the clock with damage to a mainstream auction house, returns will be typically lower than what we would achieve – given our buyer profile, market intelligence from our database, experience and our physical set-up.
All this helps get the right buyers in front of the right vehicles for them.
What would you say is the biggest benefit of Copart’s online auction platform?
Copart’s service offering is truly unique and no doubt unrivalled in the marketplace. I can’t think of another auction company who combine the use of physical locations and 100% online vehicle remarketing like we do.
Our global online member presence at each auction is vast, resulting in lots of ‘live-lane’ bidding activity that drives returns. Another one of Copart’s unique qualities is how we use technology and data driven insights to profile our stock to the right buyer. Our in-depth knowledge of our members’ preferences and buying activity is extensive, meaning we can match the right buyer with the right vehicle and command the best price for our customers.
If you are interested in finding out more about how Copart Automotive could help your business remarket sub-optimal or problematic vehicles for maximum returns, get in touch with Nick on 07570 108 708, or via email: nick.whalley@copart.com.
Copart Automotive is unparalleled in the marketplace it can offer to Fleet, Finance, Rental and Retail; with many major customers within this sector already leveraging Copart Automotive services, alongside the already impressive array of Insurance customers selling through Copart.