The new partnership between Autorola A/S and Al-Futtaim Automotive will create a fully digital remarketing experience for owners of used car fleets, targeting B2B customers across the value chain.
Dubai, UAE: Two formidable names in the automotive industry have come together to launch a new joint-venture – Autorola Middle East & North Africa (MENA) Holding Limited – with the mission to reinvent the region’s B2B used-car market. This joint-venture will introduce an integrated and end-to-end digital platform for the industry, which will digitise and simplify every step of the remarketing process, with consistent, transparent pricing, seamless, automated workflows, and auctions taking place 24/7. This will allow better trade-in ratios, stock that moves faster, and an improved better customer experience.
The pre-owned automobile industry in the UAE, one of the most important in the world, is now valued at US$ 14 billion and is forecast to rise quickly to US$ 20.5 billion by 2025 with an anticipated CAGR of 10-12%. However, the current state of the used-car market is faced with many legacy challenges and pain-points experienced by regional automotive companies, such as: Limited by manual processes and excel-based workflows, inconsistent pricing, in-person auctions that take place once a week, no vehicle inspection, decentralized remarketing processes and siloed decision-making. The new joint-venture’s digital platform will address these key pain points for all automotive companies and used-car traders within the region.
With Autorola MENA, the digital platform is customisable and customer-focused, with modules for fleet monitoring, running fleet, ordering and repairs, booking, appraisals, and every step of the remarketing process, including transfer, storage, insurance, cleaning and inspection, pricing, a digital showroom, auction selection and management, and payment. It also offers document sharing and collaboration tools, as well as an integrated “Fleet Chat” platform, making emails, SMS messages and phone calls with vendors and other partners unnecessary.
Autorola MENA is the result of a collaboration between Autorola A/S and Al-Futtaim Automotive. Autorola A/S is a global leader in online vehicle remarketing and automotive IT solutions, operating in 19 countries. The global platform had more than 55,000 active dealers and 815,000 cars auctioned in 2021, with existing clients that include banks, rental dealers, leasing dealers, and others.
Al-Futtaim Automotive, which provides some of the world’s most-recognised automotive brands, services, and mobility solutions to customers across the region, sees immense potential in the digital transformation of the used-car market in the Middle East. As the leading automotive group, Al-Futtaim Automotive aims to bring its regional scale and expertise into the new venture, with the hope that many other leading automotive companies will join in and enable the UAE’s digitalisation efforts towards creating a more organised, progressive and world-class business ecosystem, especially within the context of the used-car market which currently seems very unorganised.
“This collaboration is both strategic and synergistic,” said Peter Grøftehauge, CEO of Autorola A/S. “As one of the world’s most recognised and widely respected automotive brands and the go-to market partner for expansion in the Middle East, Al-Futtaim Automotive brings credibility, knowledge of the local market and regulations, as well as the proof of concept and operations. We bring the end-to-end digital solution, the technological expertise, the wider pool of buyers with higher bid volumes, convenience for sellers, and transparency and traceability. Together, we’re tapping into a whole new business ecosystem.”
Paul Willis, President of Al-Futtaim Automotive, commented: “This venture is a vital component of our growth strategy, and a historic first for our company to enter into the software business.
Autorola is a leader in this field and their complete end-to-end digital solutions allows us to serve a wider B2B customer base through a modern and digitised customer journey. Using Al-Futtaim as a test-bed in the region, this independent and impartial new tech company will change the face of vehicle remarketing in the UAE and the wider region for all prospects.”
Autorola MENA is slated to start in the UAE and expand quickly to other countries in the region. The platform is built to cater to all car brands and corporations, right from the inception, with all client data being kept secured and protected on AWS servers and treated as highly confidential.
About Autorola A/S
Autorola A/S is a member of the Autorola Group, a company existing under the laws of Denmark
- Private company founded in 1996 by the brothers Peter and Martin Groeftehauge
- SaaS (Software as a Service) Business Model
- Operations in 19 Countries (Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific)
- More than 550 employees
- More than 28.000 finished on-line auctions in 2021
- More than 55,000 dealer logins worldwide in 2021
- More than 815,000 vehicles were auctioned in 2021
- More than 600,000 vehicles using their workflow system (stock management)
- More than 300m AED in revenue in 2021
- More than 28m AED in net profit in 2021
About Al-Futtaim Automotive
Al-Futtaim Automotive, one of the main five operating divisions within the UAE-based Al-Futtaim Group of companies, is a conglomerate of motoring-related businesses, franchising some of the world’s most-recognized automotive brands and services.
Operating in 10 countries across the Middle East, Asia and Africa and empowered by around 9,000 associates, the UAE-headquartered Group’s services span across distribution of new and used vehicles, manufacturing, leasing, and aftersales.
Ranging from passenger cars to SUVs, commercial vehicles, industrial and construction equipment as well as motorbikes and quads, Al-Futtaim Automotive Group offers an integrative customer-centric experience for motorists, fleet operators and contractors alike, and strives to become the leader in tailor-made mobility solutions.
About Al-Futtaim Group
Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Structured into five operating divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and health; employing more than 33,000 employees across more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, we partner with over 200 of the world’s most admired and innovative brands.
Al-Futtaim Group’s entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organisation to continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers within the societies in which we operate.
By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration, integrity, Al-Futtaim Group continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our customers each and every day.
