The Source Of All Knowledge
May 16, 2025
Whilst the stability of the used car market is welcome along with buoyant pricing as a result of fewer vehicles in the three-five-year age group following reduced new car registrations during the covid years, sourcing stock for forecourts can pose a challenge.
Latest Auto Trader used car prices reveals a healthy outlook although supply issues still persist which calls for a streamlined and savvy sourcing strategy. Coupled with its figures revealing vehicles are now spending less time in stock – 27 days on average in April and a whole day less than the same time last year - replenishing forecourts is an ongoing challenge.
Our CEO Andy Whitehair said: “In some ways it’s a nice problem to have – vehicles holding their prices and selling faster – but unless retailers address the flipside – sourcing more vehicles to sell to match demand – problems can arise. Quite simply, if a retailer doesn’t have a vehicle for sale that matches a buyer’s requirements at the right price, they will move on to another business.”
ViSOURCE, Autofinity’s latest product, is already attracting interest from dealers and groups since it aggregates wholesale vendor stock and information to provide used car buyers with an overarching view of the market from one dashboard allowing like-for-like comparisons without having to toggle between different sites and applications.
It takes Autofinity’s vision of one platform providing oversight of each vehicle from source to sale even closer.
Used car buyers purchase stock from a variety of wholesalers all of which operate their own platforms and their own rating systems making it difficult to easily compare vehicles. ViSOURCE aggregates data from these multiple sources into one system making it easy to compare vehicles, prices, spec and condition.
“Comparisons can be made efficiently without having to download vehicle information or move between sites.”
Integration with Auto Trader Connect acts as an easy reference and comparison enabling used car buyers to more readily select the best vehicles at the right price for forecourts.
As used car buyers widen their net to source vehicles - auction sites, remarketing specialists, private sellers and classified platforms - ViSOURCE aggregates the data in one dashboard empowering informed and quick decision making whilst real-time alerts flag new stock.
“In a market where stock is in short supply and high demand, it’s essential to make fast and accurate purchase decisions. With Auto Trader continuing to highlight low pricing of stock as an ongoing issue, retailers can also quickly assess both desirability and price ratings without the need to navigate additional sites.
“ViSOURCE also gives used car buyers the confidence to be more selective when buying stock because they can more readily see the vital information that impacts margins and can better match stock to the customer profile of individual group businesses. In turn, this helps free up time and space at prep centres. These vehicles are then marketed and sold more quickly creating a pipeline that’s fluid and profitable.”
Autofinity’s new product complements its ViHUB, its platform which pools vehicle data from all integrated sources to create a rich single view of information. ViHUB allows all vehicle inventory including courtesy and staff vehicles and pipeline stock to be viewed in one place highlighting obstructions such as awaiting repairs and incomplete data which can prevent a timely sale such as images and video. When used together, they provide dealers with a clear end-to-end source-to-sale process.
If you want to:-
Gain oversight of all vehicle inventory which can then be offered for sale
Have visibility of delays to enable prompt action
Hand more power to used car buyers when sourcing and purchasing stock
