MANHEIM Australia has reported that one of the biggest growth areas in its auction business has been in consignments from, and sales for, more than 100 franchise dealers.

The company says its franchise dealer disposal channel is a key source of vehicles sold at auction alongside fleet lease, government and corporate stock.

Manheim Australia corporate affairs manager Mike Costello said that while there was a degree of short-term inertia on ex-lease and government volume, across the board dealers were noticeably increasing the use of auctions to dispose vehicles. 

“Dealers are trusting us to remarket surplus trade-ins on their behalf into our nationwide public and retailer marketplace,” he said.

Mike Costello

“The perception is that dealers only send the stuff they really don’t want to retail to wholesale auctions. And sure, there are some older and higher-mileage cars in the mix, but that’s not all there is.”

Manheim’s data shows that the list of sold vehicles for franchise dealers in the first half of 2025 to date comprises more than 100 cars aged under five years.

Mr Costello said he believed that as franchise dealers have expansive new-vehicle inventories, and because fixed costs are increasing, “they see merit in using Manheim auctions as a disposal channel and generator of quick cash”.

He said that Manheim Australia – a subsidiary of Cox Automotive Australia – had grown dealer-supplied vehicle sales 43 per cent in the first half of 2025 compared with 2024, and doubled them since 2023.“Vehicles sold over the past 3.5 months on behalf of franchise dealer vendors come from 42 different brands led by Toyota (12.8 per cent share), Holden (10.7 per cent), Ford (9.2 per cent), Hyundai (8.2 per cent) and Mazda (8.0 per cent),” he said.  In the first half of 2025, Manheim reported the clearance rate was up 5 per cent with more than 90 per cent of vehicles presented for auction being sold.“The crucial metric of average days between book-in and sale is just 10.4 days, down 2.3 days YoY,” Mr Costello said.

“Two-thirds (66 per cent) of those vehicles sold on their first time offered.”

Manheim also reported that the average selling price across all half-year sales exceeded the sellers’ own reserve by about 10 per cent.

“Consider the overheads associated with retailing used cars and whether generating quick cashflow through Manheim – which offers logistics, storage and an auction marketplace – is a good choice,” Mr Costello said.