August 2008, Automotive Fleet - Feature
How Technology Will Change Traditional Fleet Remarketing
By Jim Hallett
As we continue the evolution, we are going to continue to reduce the virtual marketplace to fewer players. The question is, which will survive? The key to survival will be inventory. “He who has the cars will win the day in this space.”
Now, we take the hundreds of millions of dollars we’re spending and cooperate in a joint effort. We stand to save millions of dollars while at the same time creating a marketplace that services our customers better than anything that exists in the industry today. Imagine a combined marketplace in which all our inventories are accessible on integrated Web sites with many listed and sold through electronic mediums.
Consider again the stock exchanges, airlines, and banking industry.
Fewer virtual sites or perhaps eventually a single platform does not represent a new concept when considering how these industries have evolved.
A great example of “coopetition” is the ATM network across the world through which banking customers access their cash no matter their location, any time of day or night. They are not required to visit the banking office during normal banking hours. Similarly, our customers want to access car inventories wherever they might be in the world and to do so any time of the day or night as soon as their customers have a need. By eventually establishing one operating system, a coopetition could be possible — one system in which all customers could access all their information in one location — all cars purchased or sold, all funds received or paid, consistent reports, all inventory accounted for, all charges tracked and kept current.
Why are we still in the Dark Ages with checks couriered one at a time to the auction? Why not simply push a button as most industries and individuals do? Again, the banking industry allows the convenience of online bill payment with the push of a button. Cash inventory, investments, and print statements or other documents are available for our records.
In many ways, the auction industry has been compared to the banking industry. In the airline industry, people make reservations, select seats, pay charges, and print boarding passes all online.
As an industry, the major chains and independents will see the benefit of standardizing many of the initiatives I mentioned: condition reports, arbitration, transportation, dealer registration, and even a single operating platform.