THE Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC) has pulled off a major coup by getting access for its LMCT members selling used cars to view and sort vehicle transfer data taking place in all postcodes across Victoria.

The used-car management tool, called VACC Auto Dealer Assist, is an initiative of the Victorian Automobile Dealers Association and the commercial arm of VACC, OurAuto.

It was developed in cooperation with the registration authority, VicRoads, and other government authorities.

The chamber believes that the tool will give its members and third-party subscribers unprecedented intelligence on used-car sales trends in the postcodes surrounding their used-car operations.

By tapping into the state government vehicle transfers data, subscribers will be able to interrogate the database and see what cars are most in demand down to the make, model, year and colour least in demand in the postcodes they nominate for the search.

The data shows whether the transaction is a disposal of the car or an acquisition within each postcode.

It shows if the transfer was private-to-private, private-to-dealer, dealer-to-private or an LMCT transfer.

The service will launch on November 1 and will cost VACC members a subsidised fee of $240 a year plus $24 for each additional location. Non-members will pay $720 a year.

The database will initially cover the past 13 months but will be updated with fresh data each successive month. So, for example, it will have accumulated 25 months of data by the end of the first year of operations.

The system has already been operating in beta testing at selected dealerships and a major independent used-car operator and it has been given the thumbs up.

In a letter to members, the VACC said that Auto Data Assist “has been built to assist your business to identify used-vehicle transfer habits by postcode, make and model”.

“You will know what is and isn’t moving in your nominated area. You should know what types of used vehicles are being bought and sold so that you can always make an informed purchase at a price that makes you profitable. VACC Auto Dealer Assist can provide this data to you.”

The chamber said VACC Auto Dealer Assist would enable members “to visualise your markets via dynamic tables, graphs, maps and dashboards”.

“VACC Auto Dealer Assist will help to create immediate and future remarketing strategies to enable you to maximise a return on investment,” the letter said.

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What VACC Auto Dealer Assist does:

• Provides an indicative overview of what’s selling and where the acquirer or disposer is domiciled
• Allows used-car retailers to find the biggest opportunities for used sales by postcode
• Allows used-car retailers to see where most sales are happening for the used makes they have in stock
• Used-car retailers can select multiple postcodes at one time and copy them to their clipboard for fast and easy data manipulation
• Used-car retailers can sort by make, model, inventory, and distance, as well as dealer to dealer and private to dealer and private markets
• Verify the biggest opportunities for used sales by postcode. Quickly see where most transfers are happening for the used models used car retailers have in stock
• View market performance for used vehicles by city, for make, model and segment.

Additional applications and enhancements are being developed.

By John Mellor