Game-changing datasets provide new possibilities for automotive value chain

3 July 2018

Autovista Group has reported staggering growth in demand for its precise vehicle identification and specification data. Since investing in its Europe-wide manufacturer-backed identification system, there has been an explosion of innovative new products utilising the enhanced data set, as well as strong demand from dealers, fleet and finance, and insurance companies.

Accessing precise data for an individual vehicle is a significant data challenge. The majority of systems in Europe work on the basis of identifying a base version of the vehicle only, and often without correctly identifying the trim level and options. This leads to slow and expensive manual identification, a risk of misidentifying the vehicle, inaccurate pricing and financial loss. This long-standing problem has been recognised by Autovista Group and solved by integrating the original build data held by the vehicle manufacturer into their products.

′This data set opens up exciting new possibilities for everyone in the automotive value chain,’ explains Samuel Keates, Director of Specifications at Autovista Group. ′We are seeing new innovations in the insurance sector, where the vehicle-related risk is significantly impacted whether a car has an automatic braking system or a degree of autonomous driving capability. Our data gives complete transparency to all equipment fitted to the vehicle by the manufacturer, standard and optional, allowing our insurance customers to move their underwriting analysis to a level that was not possible before.’

′This accuracy in identifying a vehicle is also extremely valuable to owners of vehicle asset risk,’ adds Samuel. ′Our analysis shows that at least 10% of vehicles are misidentified when remarketed, with around €250 of value missing. With more than a million risk fleet vehicles disposed of in Europe annually, this translates to losses of €25 million in de-fleeting alone.’

Win-Win

At Autovista France, growth in demand for data took off last year, and is on track for ten-fold growth this year.

′We are very proud of our identification and specification data,’ says Thierry Gaumont, General Manager France and Benelux for Autovista Group. ′We have the most accurate and detailed data in the industry. The insurance sector in particular has recognised this, and it enables them to gain a competitive edge in the quotation process by ensuring that they fully and instantly understand the risk they are taking on, and give consumers credit for safety-enhancing options. This is win-win.’

Martin Novak, Managing Director of Autovista Group in Austria and Switzerland, says they have experienced similar demand from the insurance sector.

′In the past, just knowing the basic vehicle you were insuring was enough. This would give you the cost of repair, and the risk from powerful engines. With more and more driving assistance systems joining the options list, and intense competition between insurers due to cost comparison websites, knowing exactly what you are insuring is critical to remaining competitive,’ explains Martin.  ′Our customers really appreciate the depth of our Eurotax data here.’

Autovista Group’s enhanced dataset is also transforming businesses for dealers, repairers, and those in the fleet and finance sector.

′We were the first market in the group to integrate the new data,’ says Thorsten Barg, the Group’s Country Manager for Germany.

′SchwackeNet, our market-leading used car management system, has been significantly enhanced by VIN identification. In Germany it is not possible to identify a vehicle based on the license plate, and so a different solution was required,’ explains Thorsten.  ′With VIN we have gone beyond what was traditionally possible and now our dealer customers know exactly what they are buying, what they are selling, and how to price vehicles perfectly using our Schwacke values, adjusted to the precise specification of the individual car.’

′This was an industry first and has quickly become the standard expected by dealers,’ adds Thorsten. ′We are now expanding this capability to the Repair Estimate module, enabling instant and accurate appraisal of repair costs factoring all optional equipment. It dramatically speeds up the estimation process and reduces the chance of incorrect part ordering, saving time and money for our customers.’

New Products for 2018

During 2017, Autovista Group processed over 3.2 million vehicles through the manufacturer-backed identification system and the company is rolling out the data set across all European markets.

′This game-changing dataset forms the cornerstone of an exciting new range of used car data products which we are launching in 2018,’ says Samuel Keates.