FLEETS could save £10 a day on every car by allocating them by suitability to a particular remarketing method.

Many fleets have a set ‘trickle down’ method of remarketing, which sees vehicles entered for sale into a particular channel and then moved on to other channels if it doesn’t sell.

Once all other routes have been tried and failed, less appealing vehicles – which carry the largest burden of holding and depreciation costs – are sent to auction.

According to auction house BCA, this reinforces the notion that while auction is quick and effective, values are low and therefore it should be the final channel the vehicle is exposed to.

BCA has created a new product which it claims can analyse and measure the true, often concealed costs and benefits of different remarketing channels. These include depreciation and holding costs, and take account of the quality of vehicle typically assigned to different channels.

Once these costs are taken out of the equation, the net return per vehicle can be assessed, allowing fleets to evaluate different channels as part of its remarketing programme more easily.

Tony Gannon, BCA’s communications and strategy director, said: ‘There’s no ‘one size fits all’ answer, as companies will have different aims and objectives and wide-ranging views on what makes a successful remarketing programme.

‘Whatever route you choose to market – physical, electronic or online auction, tender, fixed-price sale to trade, semi-retailing – you have to weigh up and balance the benefits of speed, cost and return.

‘It is easy to convince yourself that by retailing your cars you are getting a better return to the bottom line, without considering how long it has taken you to make the sale. If it takes a month, how much ‘hidden value’ has trickled away in the last 30 days? We estimate it could be up to £10 a day when all costs are fully accounted for.

‘Whatever channel you favour, you are dealing with a fast-moving marketplace where values can change on a daily basis. If you are selling fixed price, you do not need to be too far out of step with prevailing conditions for your vehicles to stick rather than sell.’