The COVID-19 restrictions have allowed dealers to embrace finding stock online rather than physical auctions.
Martin Potter, group managing director at Aston Barclay told Motor Trader that he doesn’t see a full return to the physical environment for dealers at auctions.
He said: “I really don’t think there’s any need to fully return to a physical environment because buyers can buy with confidence. They’ve realised how easy it is to use online functionality and they can actually be more productive and buy more stock.
“By using the buyer apps you can log on to, and sort of three or four sales at a time and still be bidding at vendors. I think in that arena, there’s really no need to return to a physical environment actually, which is great news for everybody.”
However, he went on to say that budget and older cars at auction will still attract dealers to physical sales.
He said: “I think were the only one sector of the business that may well return to that is probably the budget and value part exchange arena because the cars are obviously much much older, and those despite the technologies that we’ve got there are still buyers that are nervous about buying that stock online because of the nature of what it is.
“If there is any return to physical, I think it will probably only happen in that particular arena where where people do need to see or touch and feel.
“I honestly can’t see the fleet leasing and manufacturer element of our job returning to physical. I think that’s been a great step.”
