Leipzig/Germany, 16 April 2007
»Gebrauchtwagen Praxis«, which is a magazine for the German second-hand car sector recently awarded its “Secondhand Car Business Prize” (“Gebrauchtwagen Business”) for the second year running. At the AMI/AMITEC trade fair in Leipzig, Germany, the magazine – in conjunction with CGP Christof Gerhard, Dekra and the Santander Consumer Bank – awarded prizes to the best ideas submitted from the secondhand car sector. Three coequal prizes were presented by the magazine in the categories of (1) product, (2) services, and (3) concept.
The prize-winners are:
In the category of concept:
Germany’s first family car dealership – Family Cars GmbH, Senden/Germany
Family Cars is a car dealership especially for families, making things easier for the latter in the seemingly never-ending search for a suitable family car. The company always keeps a good range of 250 secondhand estate cars, vans or mini-buses in stock, covering a range of 15 different makes of car.
The reasons given by the jury for selecting this particular winner were: “The company is family-friendly through and through – which can also be seen in its marketing activities. Family Cars isn’t geared towards one particular make of car or segment, but instead it is consistently geared towards the target group. That is what makes the concept of Family Cars unique in the opinion of the jury.”
In the category of services:
“EDT” (translated: Easy Dialogue Technology) – AoS24 Auto-Online-Service GmbH, Neu Anspach/Germany. EDT is an online catalogue containing questions and answers in 18 languages including Russian, complete with Cyrillic script, for the second-hand car sector. Using this service, dealers and customers can communicate with each other without the problem of language barriers getting in the way.
The reasons given by the jury for selecting this particular winner were: “Easy Dialogue Technology is a pioneering product for the international car trade and for communications with foreign residents in Germany who speak little or no German.”
In the category of product:
“BMW@mobile” – Munich branch of BMW
BMW@mobile puts an end to paper chaos. Potential buyers of a secondhand car simply request the core data of the car they are interested in and this is sent directly to their mobile phone, together with a photo, within the shortest space of time.
The reasons given by the jury for selecting this particular winner were:
“This multimedia message service (MMS) is a clever, contemporary idea and an excellent method of sending information to customers while at the same time gathering customer data which can be used to initiate targeted sales.”
A total of 56 companies entered the competition. The jury, consisting of representatives from the editorial team of »Gebrauchtwagen Praxis«, sponsors and three car dealers, assessed the practicality and creativity of the innovations submitted. The focus was on sales, marketing, presentation and services. The entries made it apparent that the current trend in the secondhand car business is continuing to shift strongly towards the internet and the use of IT tools. Moreover, process optimization and portfolio maintenance also play a major role. Silvia Lulei, editor-in-chief of »Gebrauchtwagen Praxis«, commented as follows at the award ceremony: “The competition has revealed the many facets of the secondhand car business. It should therefore be of useful assistance to car dealers, showing them how to organize their business more effectively and more sustainably.”
The best ideas submitted to the competition will be presented in issue 5 of »Gebrauchtwagen Praxis« which is due to go on sale on 10 May.
If you have any queries (or for photos), please feel free to contact:
Dr. Karin Bayha
VAM plus – events
Editorial office of »kfz-betrieb« – weekly journal and website
Vogel Auto Medien GmbH & Co. KG
97064 Würzburg
Germany
Tel. +49 (0)931 418-2031
Fax +49 (0)931 418-2915
E-mail: karin_bayha@vogel-automedien.de
