Vauxhall hopes to enhance brand awareness of its Network Q used car operation, fuelling an increase in sales, after joining a new internet auction initiative.

FiredUp.com, launched last month by News International, part of media mogul Rupert Murdoch's empire, features a range of consumer goods from holidays to home products, sold via an online auction. Vauxhall is the first manufacturer to go online with used car sales, retailing a range of nearly-new marques. Robert Avery, FiredUp.com business development director, expects other carmakers and dealer groups to join the business-to-consumer auction site, for both new and used car sales. “Network Q does not have an exclusive arrangement,” he said. “We are talking to other manufacturers and they are interested in getting involved.” Vauxhall expects to boost work volumes for its Network Q retailers - they presently retail about 10,000 cars a year - though a spokesman conceded that auction prices tended to be “a shade lower” than cars sold from the showroom.