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AURES Holdings to go west, shareholders to give hundreds of millions of Euros for expansion

“At the moment, our salesrooms in our main market in the Czech Republic have been closed to customers for almost 4 months, just as they have in Slovakia. This is an absolutely unprecedented situation in the history of our company and the retail industry in general, which, moreover, was preceded by lockdowns in both countries last year. Fortunately, we have been able to steadily improve the efficiency of online car sales. In the Czech Republic, we are up to around 3,200 cars sold online per month. In Slovakia, it is already over 1,000, which we consider to be a very good result. Thanks to the fact that no retail restrictions have been imposed in Poland, this market has surpassed Slovakia for the first time within our Group,” said Karolína Topolová, CEO and Chairwoman of the Board of AURES Holdings, the operator of the international AAA AUTO network. In the first quarter, the Group sold a total of 15,200 cars in the AAA AUTO network, of which 8,700 were in the Czech Republic, 3,850 in Poland and 2,650 in Slovakia. The network, with 45 branches, has a stable supply of around 16,000 cars in Central Europe, of which over 9,200 are in the Czech Republic, 2,700 are in Poland and 4,000 are in Slovakia

AURES focuses on the West with Driverama

As the pandemic abates, AURES is beginning to expand again. This time it will not only be strengthening its sales capacity in countries where the AAA AUTO network already operates, but the company will also enter Western markets as an online used car dealer under the Driverama banner.

“It concerns an investment by our shareholders that amounts to €100 million in the first phase and up to another €400 million in the second phase,” said Karolína Topolová.

“The Driverama concept makes use of buying and selling used cars online in Western Europe, with the ability to buy and sell cars to end customers across EU borders. It will be possible to have the cars delivered or picked up at dozens of micro-branches, starting in the summer. The Driverama project is not a greenfield project. We have invested €75 million in preparing its technological aspects over recent years. This has mainly been in developing our own software and providing the technological infrastructure to allow us to have a complete, real time overview of the offers on the used car market across Europe. The launch of the Driverama project was greatly accelerated by our positive experience of selling cars online during the coronavirus pandemic,” explained Stanislav Gálik, Driverama’s Chairman of the Board of Directors and former Head of Innovation at AURES.

Driverama is launching its business through purchasing activities and will start sales early next year with an offer of 5,000 cars in Germany. Over the next 12 months, €100 million will go towards building infrastructure in the key countries where Driverama will launch. It will expand into 11 more countries by 2025. This expansion will be supported by AURES Holdings and its shareholders with further investments of up to €400 million. “The goal is to establish Driverama as Europe’s largest online used car retailer by 2025,” added Gálik.

Expansion in Poland to continue

The expansion of the AAA AUTO network will continue to take place, especially in Poland, where it will tie in with the plans slowed by the pandemic. “By the end of this month we will open a new full-service branch in Lublin in the Makro complex, which will gradually offer up to 300 vehicles on an area of 7,500 m². This will be followed in May by the launch of a purchasing branch in Radom within the M1 shopping centre. In the summer we will start work on expanding the capacity of the Zabrze branch, that being from 250 to 450 cars, which will include building a new facility this autumn. Similarly, we are planning to construct a new salesroom at the premises of our Wroclaw branch, also this autumn. In Katowice, we will expand the sales area and customer facilities in several stages throughout this year. We are also expanding our central branch for Warsaw in Piaseczno. It was here in March that we completed the purchase of the neighbouring property, the former FIAT dealership. This new facility will allow us to expand our staff facilities. Thanks to this acquisition, we can build a larger showroom for our customers. We have also expanded our outdoor sales area and increased our range of vehicles in the Warsaw region. Last but not least, the second property in Piaseczno will allow us to develop other services, such as car rental, in the future,” stated Karolina Topolová.

Corona virus

“I would like to reiterate my gratitude for the support given by the governments of the countries where we operate. Thanks to this support, we have been able to save many jobs that we would otherwise have had to have let go of. The thing that would make me happiest of all is if it would be possible to open our facilities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia as soon as possible so that we can take advantage of the spring season, which is the most important season of the year for us. There is a lot of interest in used cars, and although online sales are very successful, they cannot be a 100% replacement for trading in branches. Most of the selling or buying process we do is done outdoors, so there is very little risk of infection transmission. Of course, we are ready to fully comply with all the hygiene measures that will be required for opening retail sales,” emphasised Karolína Topolová. The company also wants to participate in the vaccination of employees. “As soon as possible, we will start vaccinating those employees who are interested. For now, we are waiting to see when vaccines will be available for ordinary citizens and for corporate vaccinations,” Karolína Topolová added.