Cox Automotive names most profitable used cars for dealers

Cox Automotive UK has named the most profitable used cars for dealers to sell in the UK.

Analysing the data it collects from its physical auctions and online channels on the wholesale side and the retail data gained from its retail Motors.co.uk site it found that the Ford Focus, Fiat 500, Mini Cooper and Ford Fiesta were the most profitable cars to sell. It said the length of time in stock could change the picture.

The group named the most profitable cars as a taster of things to come. Cox is making “significant investment” in its data technology and is working on a new generation of insight tools to help dealers boost the profitability of their used car businesses.

Central to the approach is a return on investment tool for used cars.

“As a car dealer I want to maximise my annual profit. That’s my objective. So, what cars should I stock to maximise my annual profit,” said Allison Nau, head of data solutions at Cox Automotive UK who was appointed a year ago.

Cox is also using data to analyse the return on investment leasing companies can make on the stock they sell, helping them decide whether to recondition vehicles and what channels to sell them through.

“That is a piece of research and development work that is well under way and we are kicking off a pilot with a vendor very shortly,” said Nau.

“We also have work underway to help dealers make better stocking decisions on which vehicles they should be purchasing.

“Think about wholesale prices and wholesale demand. They are intrinsically linked to retail prices and retail demand and because we have services at every stage of the vehicle life cycle, we are uniquely placed to put that data together to gain valuable insights,” she said.

Nau said this differentiated the Cox approach from the work carried out by Auto Trader and its iControl tool. “We are bringing to market a variety of different solutions,” said Nau.