A buyback platform for the automotive market

MakoLab’s BuyBack Management Tool supports the end-to-end buyback process and facilitates access to key historical data across a vehicle’s entire life cycle. Here, we explore how this proprietary software can streamline processes, provide real-time data and enhance customer experiences. We also look at the platform’s key features and aspects of how it can improve the automotive industry.

Our BuyBack Management Tool is a fully scalable modular platform which makes it possible to track the life cycles of vehicles. Developed for Renault Poland, it facilitates the preview and management of the entire process from one place, covering designing the vehicle, creating a sales offer, production, transport, and inspection. Most importantly, it supports one of the essential stages of the used car buyback process, namely, expertise and repair, enabling the smooth subsequent resale to a dealer or private customer. Based on ten modules, the platform provides companies with the capability of monitoring every stage effectively, supporting their business requirements for the entire process.

Recent years have seen a growing trend for OEMs to enter the used vehicle market. Traditionally, this has been the domain of smaller car dealers. However, as technology advances and the demand for used cars increases, car manufacturers are aiming to gain a larger slice of the pie. In times of crisis on the automotive market, refurbishing a fairly new car proves to be easier than producing a completely new one. The components which are so hard to come by for brand-new vehicles are not usually required for remanufacturing. The buyback process needs neither semiconductors nor aluminium or magnesium parts. In one of Renault’s French plants alone, this new business is expected to generate more than one billion euros in sales. Moreover, by the end of this decade, Renault plans to be earning more revenue from refurbishment and recycling used vehicles than from assembling new ones.
What, then, does the refurbishment of cars entail? At the Renault Refactory, each car undergoes an initial technical inspection on an automated line. Every vehicle is photographed and scanned to assess the condition of the exterior, interior, chassis and tyres. If there is significant damage, body and paint repairs are carried out. Whenever possible, worn mechanical parts are replaced with remanufactured parts to maximise the use of available resources.
All of this is supported by the best buyback solutions on the market. As a result, Renault Poland is benefiting from our BuyBack Management Tool as a means of achieving success.

Used cars which are two to three years old are becoming an alternative for people who had intended to buy a new car but have been discouraged by showroom queues. With production held up by the scarcity of parts, reduced deliveries to dealers, rising prices, and longer waiting times once a car has been ordered, is their disinterest any wonder?
The upshot is that more and more fleet, business and individual customers are turning to the secondhand market. The available data reveals that, in the US, for instance, used car sales reached a total of 39.2 million units in 2020, with just 14.5 million units noted for new car sales. Double-digit declines in new car sales were recorded for a significant section of EU markets for June 2022. This included the largest of those markets. Sales shrank by 18.1% in Germany, 14.2% in France and 15% in Italy. Outside the EU, the decrease observed for the UK was very substantial, at 24%. In Poland, new vehicle registrations decreased by 8.5% for the same month. These figures indicate a clear consumer preference for buying used cars rather than new ones.
However, the reason for results like these is not a fall in demand but the increasingly limited supply of vehicles. This is rooted in supply chain issues with parts and components, which hampers production. There are problems not only with semiconductors, but also with raw materials, as availability decreased markedly after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. One example of this is palladium, which is used in the production of catalysts. Between twenty-five and thirty per cent of world supplies was provided by Russia. The result was that prices rose sharply.
In general, then, it is fair to say that current trends have forced a great many manufacturers and importers to change their business models.

The buyback sales process involves the purchase of used vehicles from fleets or individual customers. With purchases from fleets, the process typically involves buying back leased vehicles from corporations or government agencies. The vehicles are then inspected, reconditioned as necessary and sold to dealerships or other buyers.
Individual customer sales involve buying back vehicles directly from customers who are selling their cars. The process usually involves an appraisal of the vehicle’s condition and negotiating a purchase price. Once the buyback is complete, the vehicle is normally sold to dealerships or private buyers via various channels, including auctions and online marketplaces.
Overall, the buyback sales process is an essential aspect of the automotive industry, enabling businesses to acquire used vehicles for resale and helping individual customers by facilitating the trouble-free sale of their cars.

1. An automated buyback process. Our buyback solution automates many of the steps in the process, saving time and resources while reducing costs.
2. Streamlined inventory management. The solution provides streamlined inventory management capabilities, enabling OEMs to manage their vehicle inventory efficiently and optimise their buyback programmes.
3. Real-time data and integration. The system processes vehicle data from the moment that a new vehicle is ordered until the resale of a used vehicle to the dealership network. This makes it possible to track the vehicle’s entire history for the period of interest. The solution can also be integrated with the manufacturer’s central systems, ensuring that the data is always up-to-date.
4. Compliance with regulations. MakoLab’s solution assists OEMs in staying compliant with regulations for vehicle disposal and recycling. This not only helps to avoid potential legal issues, but also shows their commitment to sustainability and responsible environmental practices.
5. Enhanced customer experience. By providing real-time updates on the status of vehicles, businesses can ensure that their customers are always informed and enjoy a positive experience. This can lead to increased customer loyalty and repeat business, both of which are crucial on the highly competitive automotive market.
6. Flexibility. Our highly qualified staff developed our buyback platform in collaboration with the client’s team, who brought their experience in servicing used cars to the project. Combined with our fresh ideas and innovative IT solutions, this enabled us to create a solution with features that can be applied to numerous purposes and systems processing large quantities of data.
7. Scalability and modularity. Our solution is fully scalable and modular, which not only enables OEMs to customise the platform in line with their specific needs, but also makes it easy for them to add new features or modules as their business grows.

In conclusion, software designed for car dealers and dedicated to the used car market offers businesses a number of benefits and opportunities. By implementing solutions of this kind, companies can stay competitive, improve customer satisfaction and streamline their operations.
The BuyBack Management Tool by MakoLab is a solution for dealers which facilitates the efficient tracking and management of used cars and offers an automated buyback process that saves time and increases profitability. In addition, both the possibility of integrating it with other systems and its capacity for processing large quantities of data mean that it can provide valuable insights into market and customer behaviour. Another major benefit for manufacturers is the fact that third-party companies can be given access to the platform, allowing them to see selected vehicle data and a wide range of documents, including invoices, registration certificates, tyre labels and brochures.
In essence, a vehicle buyback system can offer support to manufacturers. The MakoLab BuyBack Management Tool is a smart investment for OEMs looking to optimise their operations and stay ahead of the game in the ever-evolving automotive industry.

English language editor: Caryl Swift