New skids on the block
Australian/Czech-owned AAA Auto hopes its "no nonsense, straight-talking" message that has won nearly a quarter of the secondhand market in the Czech Republic will translate across the border. However, the Polish sector has been dealt a severe blow by EU accession and is currently battling with a millstone of more than half a million secondhand vehicles that have flooded across the border since restrictions were relaxed after May 1. And until the government introduces legislation that will curb this movement or supplies from countries like Germany and Holland dry up, this trend will continue at approximately 100,000 used and very used cars a month.
Putting the brakes on sales
Most of the cars brought across the border are waiting in storage to be released when prices recover. Developments in Germany, however, at the beginning of next year, when tax on vehicles that fail the Euro2 emissions test will be increased by 50 percent, may spark more car imports and delay recovery still further. "We have a crazy situation now and we will see the influence of these cars for the next couple of months," says Wojciech Drzewiecki from the Samar car analyst company.
But AAA Auto's director of global operations Ruskin McLennan says: "Both new and used car dealers are experiencing problems because of the large increase in old, secondhand cars. However, the government is looking to regulate car importation next year and this could restore the market. We think it could be the right time for us to enter the Polish market."
Acording to Drzewiecki there are about 330,000 brand new units sold in Poland each year compared to between 700,000 and 900,000 used cars a year. "The market will develop. We believe Poland has the potential to sell one million new cars, say in 10 years time, and that means we will sell about two million used cars," Drzewieck says. "For someone like AAA this is a really huge market-a great market."
AAA Auto's plans for sites in Warsaw and Katowice are part of a wider expansion across Central and Eastern Europe next year that will take in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria. In April the firm opened a center in Utrecht, in Holland, and it is currently in the advanced stages of preparing to launch in China.
Mirror, signal, maneuver
The current plans for a trans-European empire are a far cry from the firm's beginnings 13 years ago. AAA was launched in 1992 with a single showroom and has grown at an impressive 15 percent a year. It now sells more than 4,000 new and used cars a month from its network of 14 centers and its Internet operation.
Samar's chief believes these new kids on the block can muscle in on the action. "The advantage AAA Auto has is that they can advertise themselves more strongly than other companies can. That will spread the message to potential customers who will visit them and if they visit then salesmen can catch them and sell them cars," says Drzewiecki. "In my opinion people are looking for security and safety. They can find that either at the authorized dealerships or companies on the market, which are offering something more-and this is where it counts."
Putting the brakes on sales
Most of the cars brought across the border are waiting in storage to be released when prices recover. Developments in Germany, however, at the beginning of next year, when tax on vehicles that fail the Euro2 emissions test will be increased by 50 percent, may spark more car imports and delay recovery still further. "We have a crazy situation now and we will see the influence of these cars for the next couple of months," says Wojciech Drzewiecki from the Samar car analyst company.
But AAA Auto's director of global operations Ruskin McLennan says: "Both new and used car dealers are experiencing problems because of the large increase in old, secondhand cars. However, the government is looking to regulate car importation next year and this could restore the market. We think it could be the right time for us to enter the Polish market."
Acording to Drzewiecki there are about 330,000 brand new units sold in Poland each year compared to between 700,000 and 900,000 used cars a year. "The market will develop. We believe Poland has the potential to sell one million new cars, say in 10 years time, and that means we will sell about two million used cars," Drzewieck says. "For someone like AAA this is a really huge market-a great market."
AAA Auto's plans for sites in Warsaw and Katowice are part of a wider expansion across Central and Eastern Europe next year that will take in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria. In April the firm opened a center in Utrecht, in Holland, and it is currently in the advanced stages of preparing to launch in China.
Mirror, signal, maneuver
The current plans for a trans-European empire are a far cry from the firm's beginnings 13 years ago. AAA was launched in 1992 with a single showroom and has grown at an impressive 15 percent a year. It now sells more than 4,000 new and used cars a month from its network of 14 centers and its Internet operation.
Samar's chief believes these new kids on the block can muscle in on the action. "The advantage AAA Auto has is that they can advertise themselves more strongly than other companies can. That will spread the message to potential customers who will visit them and if they visit then salesmen can catch them and sell them cars," says Drzewiecki. "In my opinion people are looking for security and safety. They can find that either at the authorized dealerships or companies on the market, which are offering something more-and this is where it counts."
