Porsche Cars North America Inc. has tapped a Cox Automotive software platform company to help it manage its off-lease portfolio.
In March, Porsche and its dealers began using RMS Automotive’s Actuos portfolio management tools to accept off-lease vehicles turned in by consumers, said Nick Peluso, president of RMS.
Peluso said Porsche is currently using only the tools that help its dealers accept off-lease vehicles from consumers and then buy them. But the platform draws on the expertise and data of Cox Automotive companies -- such as vAuto, Kelley Blue Book and Manheim -- to offer a suite of analytical products that companies can use to make future decisions about when, where and how to remarket their entire portfolios.
“Think of it as an asset management tool versus a remarketing tool,” said Peluso.
‘Better decisions’
The platform is designed for companies that own or lease “tens or hundreds of thousands” of vehicles such as captive finance companies, banks and rental-car companies, he said.
Jim Kuna, manager of vehicle remarketing for Porsche Cars North America, said the platform’s tools will give his company valuable insight about the vehicles in its portfolio.
“Providing us with access to the entire lifecycle of our vehicle portfolio will enable us to make better decisions in the future,” Kuna said in a statement. “We will be better equipped to channel the right vehicles to the right dealers at the right time. This will not only help us, but will be of great benefit to our dealers.”
Turn-in process
The off-lease management tools being used by Porsche enable a dealer to smoothly handle the turn-in process, confirming that ownership and possession is formally transferred from the consumer to Porsche’s finance company, and then allow that dealer to buy the vehicle at a price set by Porsche.
If that dealer does not buy the vehicle, it is then offered to all Porsche dealers in an exclusive online sale, while the vehicle is sitting on the lot of the dealer that accepted it.
If the vehicle still isn’t sold, it is offered for sale on Manheim’s OVE.com for an online sale open to all dealers or sent to a physical auction or both.
