Manheim Opens New Auction Centre in Düren, Germany

DÜREN, GERMANY – November 10, 2008: Manheim has opened a new purpose-built auction centre in Düren, Germany in response to the growing demand for professional auctions and remarketing capability in the country. The new two lane facility, located near Aachen close to the Belgium/Dutch border, is on a 10,000 sq. metre site and will host regular weekly sales. The first auction held last this month featured over 200 vehicles from leasing, rental companies and large dealer groups.

Car auctions have been established in Continental Europe for some years, and whilst processing a small percentage of the overall market when compared with the UK and US, are growing in popularity in Germany. However they only operate for trade markets with no private buyers allowed access into the sales. Germany is the largest new car market in Europe with 3.1 million sales per annum and has the third largest used car market in the world with 6.3 million used cars sold in 2007. It is estimated that there are about 39,000 used car dealers in the country.

As the world’s largest automotive services company, Manheim sees this latest investment as a key piece of the jigsaw in creating a broad range of remarketing and retail support services in this major European car market. Manheim-owned sister companies already present in Germany are Dent Wizard, e-GoodManners and Modix.

Jonathan Holland, Managing Director of Manheim, Continental Europe said: “The new auction centre in Düren is a direct response to the growing demand in Germany for the expansion of our remarketing services. Manheim offers an unrivalled range of wholesale remarketing and retail support services throughout Europe and I am confident that our presence in the German market will grow considerably in the years to come.”