In the newest of Automotive Management’s (AM) ’10 minutes with…’ feature series Aimée Turner sat down with James Wilson, Motorway chief operating officer, to debate how the business has performed and what’s in store in 2025.
2024 was a busy yr for online platform Motorway which launched its end-to-end transportation solution through the used automobile marketplace.
Designed to spice up the post-sale experience for dealers through making the method easier, faster, and more consistent, it features Motorway Collect, an app which enables more accurate and thorough vehicle appraisals on collection which allows drivers to match the vehicle to its original profile.
Motorway Collect allows drivers to focus on any additional damage, upload photos on to the app, and even conduct a test drive. The purchasing dealer is then capable of review the vehicle’s full appraisal within the Motorway Pro app and decide to proceed the negotiation processs, if needed.
What are your predictions for the used automobile market in 2025?
James Wilson There’s some broad themes – there’s obviously quite a bit been talked about on electric vehicles (EV), and my sense from talking to dealers is that while there was still just a little little bit of hesitation across the community 18 months ago, within the last 12 months, there’s been an acknowledgement that they, at a minimum, must be dipping their toes into purchasing and selling EVs whether they seem to be a small, independent or a big franchise dealership.
As a part of that, the emergence of the Chinese manufacturers can’t be ignored. I used to work at Amazon and 10 years ago, we were working with Chinese firms that desired to sell every kind of products within the UK, and we were having very similar discussions about what is the impact was more likely to be. Guess what? People did they usually bought quite a lot of their products. I can see that parallel now with the automobile industry. In order that’s going to be really interesting.
It’s made much more interesting by the incontrovertible fact that the federal government hasn’t applied any tariffs yet – we have tariffs within the EU, we have tariffs within the US, none within the UK.
So those are two big themes that probably are usually not surprising. The opposite one which’s sort of an early one, is, how can we begin to apply AI? That is at a much earlier stage than with EVs but I believe we’re going to begin in 2025 to see several more advanced dealerships using AI. Some are already supporting their customer support, sales and internal administration in an effort to be more practical and reduce costs.
Any trends emerging within the used automobile environment?
We have returned to a more stable environment, particularly in comparison with where it was this time last yr when obviously we saw prices reducing very significantly. I believe it will see more consistency.
We’ll see continued growth of business models like ours because what we have seen over the previous couple of years is private individuals are comfortable selling their vehicle through platforms like Motorway. Dealers are also comfortable using the platform. We now have 7,500 dealers, almost two thirds of the UK dealer community, using the platform.
What are the external aspects that may affect the marketplace?
It should obviously depend just a little on what happens to the broader economy. While some indicators are more positive, actually, than they were last yr, it’s still difficult on the market but hopefully we begin to see some more positivity within the broader macro economy, which can mean more people seeking to sell cars.
What are Motorway’s plans inside the subsequent 12 months?
We proceed to innovate, each for sellers and for dealers. the truth is, we have a brand new product coming out at the tip of January, launching dealer financing. We have partnered with NextGear Capital for that, which can enable dealers, at a click of a button, to finance the payment of the vehicle. We’re very enthusiastic about that. It’s our first foray into dealer financing. We all know that is essential for dealers.
We’re also continuing to have a look at other opportunities touching on other areas, particularly around post sales. So once dealers have passed through the technique of winning a vehicle through our each day auction, we can be helping them in those steps afterwards to make it as easy and efficient as possible.
One in every of the things we launched last yr was Pay, and we’ve been more than happy with how that is been adopted. We’ve hundreds of dealers using it. We have had 2 billion transactions through Pay safely, securely and fast, which is significant for dealers. We estimated it has saved about 13 minutes per automobile, because we arrange that payment and we confirm all the pieces. The dealer just has to press a button.
In the event you’re buying 200 cars, which a number of dealers do, that is almost per week of time saving, and means they’ll give attention to buying and selling cars on the forecourt.
You count two-thirds of the dealer community as customers – what do you set that success right down to?
The feedback we hear is that dealers really like the standard of our private stock, which traditionally has been harder to pay money for, actually at scale. With our platform, dealers can purchase from 1,500 cars daily. The standard and consistency of the listings is actually essential as we have now very high standards that we apply to each automobile.
A consistent format is actually essential if you happen to’re buying a whole bunch of cars. It’s also right down to the simplicity of the method. We collect all seller documentation, checking account details, arrange payment through our platform. We also offer a transport service through our platform. It’s that end to finish experience inside our platform that differentiates us, and that is why dealers have continued to purchase through us and proceed to grow with us as well.
How do you maintain high levels of stock?
Marketing plays a very important role in driving demand. We’ve been around for seven years, and that is a comparatively short period of time so constructing our brand is basically about explaining to non-public individuals why Motorway is a superb place to sell your automobile since you get a greater price and it is simple to do.
I’m really pleased that we are able to see the brand awareness of Motorway improving. Which means we’re more efficient, so we are able to spend less money to get those customers, which is significant for our profitability.
There are a number of other people promoting, a number of other propositions, and we’d like to be certain that we have a really clear message about why we’re an efficient strategy to get an incredible price and sell easily.
What have you ever learned from coping with the motor retail community?
Attention to detail is actually essential and understanding the complexities around selling and buying a automobile. On the surface, it sounds very straightforward, but there are multiple steps, and inside each of those steps there are multiple things to get right as a way to construct trust
We’ve hung out constructing technology, processes and teams to confirm documentation at the purpose of collection and the ultimate inspection of the vehicle. We’ve built an app that allows dealers to see really easily if the vehicle is as described. We’ve also put teams in place to support them if anything goes fallacious at that time. That focus to detail and constructing the processes, the people, the technology across each of those steps is my essential learning. It’s hard, but if you happen to get it right, it’s incredible.
What measures is Motorway taking to make sure accurate and transparent descriptions?
I understand dealers’ frustration when this happens and we have modified processes, technology and a complete bunch of things to unravel this. First is that we educate sellers. There’s going to be a physical inspection on the doorstep when the automobile is picked up by the dealer or by one in every of our transport firms.
It’s of their interest to reveal all damage when going through the profiling process as a non-public individual. We prompt them for extra damage information. We ask them to submit the entire service history and get as much as we possibly can.
One other aspect is that sellers need to provide details about any mechanical damage and we have also added in an instrument cluster with the engine turned on – which was requested directly by dealers.
We have also rolled out Motorway Collect, which is that this app that allows a dealer to see any additional damage which will have been spotted by the motive force. We’ve had very positive feedback on that and it takes out the emotion on the doorstep. Since the facts are there, the photos are there, we are able to then support a dialogue between the vendor and dealer to agree a price adjustment.
We have also rolled out the Motorway Protect insurance product which dealers can take out to make sure themselves against any undisclosed mechanical faults once the vehicle is back on the dealership. We even have teams on each the vendor and the dealer side that support the aftersales process if anything is undisclosed.
How long has that verification process been in operation?
We launched it last March although we have been running checks on things like service history for a really very long time. Now we’re continuing to refine and use technology to review documentation and present it in easy-to-digest way – that happened again in response to feedback from dealers.
What about buyers who back out of the sale?
We attempt to minimise that. I even have a team who’re dedicated to following up with sellers to try to explain the advantages of using our service and why they have an incredible price from that dealer. We’re continuing to refine that by sending more information to the vendor once they’ve received their final bid which demonstrates to them that that great offer is essentially due to variety of dealers who’ve seen the vehicle.
So, through the use of each technology in addition to operational teams, we’re making good progress on that and we have had some positive feedback from dealers that that aspect has improved significantly.
Do you exit to dealers and conduct surveys to handle their issues?
We run surveys quite incessantly. We just ran one in August where we’ll ask for feedback about our service and the way we are able to improve it. We even have account management teams who will exit and spend time with dealers to grasp how we are able to improve.
That every one gets fed into our product development process where we prioritise on the idea of what’s going to have the most important impact. For instance, a few months ago, we relaunched the vehicle detail page where a dealer will go to review the automobile. We modified the format to make it much easier for them to scroll through vehicle details. Again, that was in direct response to feedback.
What can a dealership do in the event that they’re unhappy?
If a vehicle is found to have undisclosed damage, the dealer can renegotiate the value. Fairly often a dealer will involve us and we are going to explain to the vendor that some additional damage was identified at the purpose of collection which implies they should adjust to a good and reasonable price.
Our role is significant here because we could be the honest broker. We’ve no vested interest. We wish the sale to undergo, but equally, there must be a good price adjustment for the vendor as well.
We’re the one marketplace that gives this sort of end-to-end service where a dealer can find the cars, pay for the cars, transport the cars all through our platform. That’s essential, because not only does it give them access to amazing stock but we’re also helping them make that process so simple as possible.
That’s what differentiates us and can proceed to distinguish us. We are going to proceed to take a position in listening to our dealers, listening to feedback, taking that on board and improving the service to make it as easy and as easy for dealers to make use of because at the tip of the day, we will help dealers grow profitably.
This Article First Appeared At www.am-online.com
