Interviews
13 Nov 16

Laurent Potel, CEO of Reezocar: "Buying used made safe and easy"

The Paris-based start-up Reezocar is not just a remarketing platform. It helps buyers select the best used car for their needs amongst 9 million vehicles on sale in Europe – and offers an a to z customer solution. As such it also wants to become a B2C remarketing partner for leasing companies. We spoke to Laurent Potel, Co-founder and CEO.

 

Mr Potel, what is the concept behind Reezocar?

We help customers from all over Europe to find the used car that best suits their needs. After you have defined your criteria, we propose the best cars that are out the market. Once you have made your choice, one of our 4,000 experts will go and assess the vehicle both technically and aesthetically. He even test-drives the car to make sure it has no hidden issues. Based on his comprehensive report, you can decide to buy the car or not.

Where do you source your vehicles?

30% of our vehicles come from France and 70% from the rest of Europe. We find them on the public used car platforms, but apart from that we also have access to ‘closed’ professional channels. This means an advantage for both the buyer and the seller: the latter gets an extra sales channel through Reezocar, which takes care of the entire B2C handling, whereas the former gains access to cars normally not available to him.

What is your business model?

The customer doesn’t pay anything before the inspection of the vehicle. Once he has found the car he is looking for, we have it thoroughly inspected by a local expert, the cost of which varies between 189 and 249 euro. If it checks out and the customer gives the green light, we transport the car and take care of any administrative tasks, including import, again at a fee. We also offer warranty, the coverage of which depends on the age and mileage of the car. Last but not least, we will try and negotiate the best price – the discount given by the seller is split 50-50.

What are your ambitions?

Today we sell a few hundred cars per month. It is our goal to reach 1,000 vehicles per month by the end of next year. Our concept proves to be gaining in popularity and 94% of our customers say they would recommend us. We are therefore constantly looking for new business opportunities, such as partnerships with leasing companies. Moreover, we will keep on expanding our service offer, including vehicle refurbishing and maybe even maintenance, and enter new markets. Today we are officially present in Belgium and France, with 5 to 6 new countries following in the next six months.

Authored by: Dieter Quartier