“CARA’s next big project: sustainability”
Remarketing industry legends don’t come more legendary than Wolfgang Reinhold. He’s not just an industry veteran with an impressive track record, he’s also the founder of the European Car Remarketing Association, CARA for short, which defends the interests of the industry at international level. For his contributions, he became the very first entrant into the Remarketing Hall of Fame, at last year’s Fleet Europe Remarketing Awards. This year, he is the jury president. Here are his thoughts on the industry today, and tomorrow.
The Remarketing Forum and Remarketing Awards are part of the Fleet Europe Days (22-23 November, Lisbon). Click here to register!
Which innovation is fundamentally changing remarketing, and how?
“The biggest innovation – and challenge – of the last few years for the vehicle remarketing industry has been the introduction of battery-electric vehicles, first on the new-vehicle market, but then inevitably also on the used-vehicle market. This caused us to fundamentally rethink our industry, and to create not only new residual value models and sales channels, but also to invent the battery health check, which will be essential to determine the residual value for used BEVs.”
CARA is the association that defends the interests of the European vehicle remarketing industry. How exactly do you do that?
“During all our meetings, our top priority is to dive deep into all relevant areas: important topics, persistent problems, etcetera. We identify ‘deliverables’ – topics where we can make a difference for the better of the remarketing community. And then we get to work. The most recent example was our creation of a certification for used EV battery health checks, which are crucial for determining the state of health of used batteries. We’ve newly decided on our next big project: how to deliver sustainability in car remarketing.”
Let’s say a genie in a bottle grants you one wish for the European remarketing industry in 2024. What would it be?
“I would wish for a stable residual-value situation on BEVs. As I see it, all the BEV startups and other new entrants into the electric vehicle market clearly identified an opportunity in the new-vehicle market, but they didn’t really consider what would happen to their vehicles, and to their residual values, after the end of their first life cycle.”
Final question. You’ll be there at the Fleet Europe Remarketing Forum. Why should other remarketing professionals follow your example?
“This year, as every year, the Fleet Europe Remarketing Forum will be an excellent chance to get into contact with your industry peers from all over Europe, to get a truly European overview of the trends that are reshaping the vehicle remarketing industry, and to be inspired to develop your own new ideas about remarketing – perhaps during the Forum itself, or at the Awards ceremony in the evening, by seeing this year’s winners.”
The Remarketing Forum and Remarketing Awards are part of the Fleet Europe Days (22-23 November, Lisbon). Click here to register!
Image: Fleet Europe
