Cox Motor Group rolls out Indicata pricing platform to support used car growth

Cox Motor Group has onboarded Indicata’s used car pricing platform to support the growth of its group-wide used car sales.

The North-West based dealer group has rolled out Indicata across its eight franchised dealers that represent Honda, Seat, VW and MG and its five Automart used car sites.

Cox holds a group stock of around 600 which includes demonstrators, and the 12-strong team of sales managers are using Indicata to review and re-price stock each week.

The 13 group sites utilise a stock turn metric which currently averages at 9.0, with Indicata data supporting the overall target of keeping stocking days in check.

Proactive pricing and selling

Geoff Stothert, Cox Motor Group’s sales director, said: "We work on a seven-day strategy of repricing stock by using Indicata data.

"It ensures we spend time reviewing every used car in stock on a weekly basis. It provides the sales team with lots of good quality data in just two or three mouse clicks.

“It gives us the tools to be proactive with pricing and selling stock and while it doesn’t stop the team using other platforms or external information, Indicata powers the mainstay of our used car decisions. For me, a 15-minute session using Indicata means I can access all the topline data I need quickly and efficiently."

Cox Motor Group retains between 85-90% of its client part exchanges with a large number of cars being retained by its franchised sites, while the others are retailed through its network of Automart sites.

A typical Automart car ranges from £8,000-£50,000 and is up to 12 years of age.

Stothert said the number of part exchanges the group retains has grown "dramatically" as used car availability has become more restricted.

He said: "Many of our part-exchanges are owned by long-established customers so we are familiar with their service history and condition, so we are not taking a risk by taking in their vehicle.

“With part exchanges outside our franchised brands Indicata comes into its own. It provides us with the peace of mind that we are valuing the part exchange correctly and supporting our retail pricing for the forecourt."

Currently VW and Honda are the most in demand brands across the group in the two to five years of age range.

Growing used EV stock

Cox is also growing the number of used EVs it has in stock as demand and sales steadily increase.

“EVs have been successful for us – we are seeing the demand increase and our franchise brands like MG, Honda and VW have helped educate the entire business about how they work and who is likely to want to buy one.

“Around 10% of our used stock is now electric and we have also seen some success with electric vans. These vans are often half the price of a diesel vehicle, and operators are canny – they are looking at ways they can onboard an electric van onto their fleet and save money,” said Stothert.

Cox Motor Group has a monthly Teams call with a dedicated Indicata customer success manager whose job it is to help it sell more used cars more quickly.

Stothert added: "Having an outside view of how we are running our used car business is always useful and they can pick up something we may have missed.

“It gives us a regular useful point of view on how we are performing against other Indicata dealers, and they are always producing hints and tips on how we can get the most out of our used car stock."