Used cars going up. Aures property, owned by AAA, reports record sales – News List

Aures Holdings, which operates the AAA Auto and Mototechna networks, sold 83,219 cars in the first three quarters of this year. Thus it registered an eleven percent increase year on year. The company also buys cars, so in total this year it served almost 170,000 customers in buying and selling.

“The third quarter of 2024 delivered the highest demand so far for used cars this year in all markets where we operate. In this period, we sold a total of 29,271 cars, which is the best result for the third quarter for our entire life since 1992. Compared to the same period last year, this is an increase of ten ,” said Karolína Topolová, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of AURES Holding.

According to Topolová, August, when the company sold a total of 10,077 cars, was its strongest month ever.

“Over the past five years from 2019, our sales in the third quarter have increased by almost six thousand cars. Thanks to good results in three quarters, more cars have already been sold this year than in all of 2018,” said Topolová.

In response to higher sales, the organization will increase purchasing capabilities, for example. According to the current trend, the company should sell up to 110,000 cars this year. It currently sells over 320 cars a day. In Central and Western Europe, it has more than 60 branches, service centers or other representatives in five countries, in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Germany, inside each logo. In the future, it plans to establish new branches and expand the existing ones in these countries.

“This year’s total investments in the reconstruction, expansion and construction of new branches within the group reached 95 million crowns,” said AURES CEO Petr Vaněček. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, according to the company’s data, the Škoda Octavia is sold the most, while the Poles, on the other hand, like the Opel Astra.

About 200,000 new passenger cars are sold in the Czech Republic every year. However, the second-hand market is much larger – half a million are sold among domestic owners, another 250,000 are imported. Interest in passenger cars in 2023 grew 15.3 percent year-on-year.

The largest seller of used and new cars in Central Europe is said to have achieved higher results, among other things, because after several months of testing it began the full use of artificial intelligence technology. The company was involved in purchasing, marketing and sales.

“From April 2024, at AURES, we have deployed agents with artificial intelligence at the call center who process inputs from customers who want to sell us their cars. These AI agents successfully bought more than 1,800 cars with a total value of 540 million kroner. In May, we expanded the number of agents, and thanks to this we achieved a monthly purchase volume worth 120 million crowns,” says Vaněček.

According to him, in August, artificial intelligence agents made more than 14,000 orders, which is equal to the performance of human operators. And it took them less time. The average contact time with salespeople decreased from 4.5 hours to 37 minutes.

Artificial intelligence was also responsible for writing labels for individual cars. “Descriptions generated by generational AI are currently used on 80% of the cars available. In total, the AI ​​has created texts for more than 43,000 cars. For these reasons, AI has already generated more than nine million words,” Vaněček said.

This year also saw more interest in cars with other drivers for AURES. Sales of hybrid cars increased by 73 percent year-on-year, and electric cars saw an even higher growth of 166 percent.

“When it comes to electromobility, we assess the three quarters of 2024 as very successful. In this period, we sold 602 electric cars in the group, which is a year-on-year increase of more than two times,” said Vaněček. According to AURES data, the most popular electric car in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia is the Tesla M3.

Aures is Europe’s largest independent car dealer with over 30 years of experience and representation in 60 locations. It covers the brands AAA Auto, Mototechna, Driverama and Auto Diskont. AURES is owned by Abris Capital Partners, a leading independent private equity fund manager for Central Europe. Other car dealers in the Czech Republic include, for example, Louda auto, AutoPalace or Auto ESA.