Online Auction on Pace to Sell 100,000 Cars in 2018

ACV Auctions Inc. is on pace to sell over 100,000 vehicles by the end of 2018, after selling 8,600 vehicles in August, according to the company.

ACV Auctions is a dealer-to-dealer online wholesale auction platform that has seen healthy growth this year. The 8,600 vehicles sold on the platform through August was a nearly 300% increase year-over-year.

ACV Auction CEO George Chamoun told Vehicle Remarketing that a big factor in his company’s success is a change in perception of online auctions.

More and more dealers are becoming accustomed to the idea of selling their vehicles online, and as a result, his company has been able to recruit more dealers onto its platform. Currently, ACV Auctions has more than 1,000 franchise dealers selling cars on the platform, and around 3,000 dealers bidding on vehicles, Chamoun noted.

The 1,000 dealers selling on the platform is a 400% increase over the same time last year.

Having detailed condition reports available to buyers has also helped the company grow its sales, Chamoun added.

The company set a goal of expanding into 75 markets through 2018; eight months through the year and the company has expanded into 64 markets.

Online sales, as a whole, have become a bigger part of the wholesale industry in recent years. An increasing number of companies are placing a bigger emphasis on online sales. One example of this is KAR Auction Services, which at the start of 2017 announced it planned to invest up to $25 million into its online sales platform; a year later, a branch of the company, ADESA, reported it had grown its first quarter sales by 7%.  

Looking at the growth of online sale in the industry as a whole, Chamoun believes the two key factors driving the growth in online sales include time and improved technology. Online sales allow dealers to reduce the amount of time wasted looking for inventory, he said.

"Time is the most important asset, and dealers cannot afford to leave their stores or waste time on arbitration and other distractions," said Chamoun.

Improved technology has also benefitted the industry.

"Mobility and apps are enabling dealers to become a lot more efficient," said Chamoun. "More resources are being spent building best-in-class technology platforms that create trust and transparency."