TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi-M&M’s used car biz becomes the first private firm to tie up with a bank for conducting online auctions of repossessed and off-lease cars. Ajay Modi reports The way banks and non-bank finance companies auction thousands of repossessed and off-lease cars every month is changing. From a complex, time and resource consuming process, these auctions are getting streamlined, with the entry of players with an automotive experience.
M&M’s used car division, First Choice, has become the first private company to partner with a bank for conducting such an auction, through its recent True Time Bids initiative. Taking the traditional auction process a step further, those by First Choice also allow bids online.
This is a live online-offline auction platform, allowing buyers to participate in traditional ‘on the ground’ used car auctions via the internet in real-time. First Choice conducted the first such auction in July and sold 28 vehicles owned by Kotak Mahindra Bank.
“To maximise the realisation from such auctions, banks want more and more buyers to participate. Since these auctions have been traditionally conducted at one specific city and location for one-two days, many interested buyers are unable to participate,” said Nagendra Palle, chief executive officer at First Choice.
