All the lanes at Europe’s only four lane auction centre were packed with an exciting mix of stock including; 600 fleet units, 200 Black Horse vehicles, 200 commercial vehicles and 100 convertibles.

The mega sale attracted a record 425 buyers to the Colchester site with a further record breaking 661 buyers bidding online via Simulcast across the four lanes. Online buyers logged on from as far away in the UK as Gateshead, Belfast, Perth, Swansea and Taunton as well as further afield in mainland Europe and Ireland. The overall conversion rate of 93% resulted in over 1,000 vehicles being sold on the day at a total value of just under £7m. The overall conversion rate of 93% is all the more impressive considering the volume of convertible vehicles on offer which still managed to achieve a remarkable 78% conversion.

Very lively bidding across all four lanes and online via Simulcast resulted in some strong values being achieved against the October CAP values, with the Lex Autolease fleet vehicles achieving 99.1% of CAP Clean, Black Horse vehicles 94.2% of CAP Clean and commercial vehicles achieving 106% of CAP Average. Even the convertible market, which is usually dormant as you head into winter, held up well achieving 91.6% of CAP Clean.

These results were achieved in the midst of a tightening market where NAMA has cited average conversions stand at only 70% for October and used values are down by 3%.

Examples of some of the hot performers included a 2009 Fiat Multipla 1.6 with 24,000 miles which achieved 142% CAP Clean; a 2007 Mercedes-Benz C-Class 200K Elegance with 37,000 miles which achieved 137% CAP Clean; a 2005 Land Rover Discovery with 70,000 miles which achieved 110% CAP Clean and a 2008 Audi A3 1.9 TSi Sport Cabriolet with 36,000 miles which achieved 106% CAP Clean.

Commercial vehicles were also in great demand selling just short of £800,000 of stock with an average value of £4,272 per vehicle and a sales conversion rate of 106% of CAP Average. Most notably were the values achieved by a 2007 Toyota Hi Lux 4×4 with 137,000 miles achieving 155% CAP Average and a 2007 four berth Fiat Ducato Ace Airstream 61 with 5,600 miles achieving 129% CAP Average.

Glenn Sturley, vehicle remarketing director, Lex Autolease said: ‘The unique four lane layout at Colchester was a perfect setting for our mega sale and the buyer attendance was outstanding both online through Simulcast and in physical attendance. The Lex Autolease and Manheim teams worked tirelessly together to make the day a success for both ourselves and the buyers who attended in person or online. There was a real buzz throughout the entire sale day and I am delighted that this pioneering approach has been such a great success.’

John Bailey, chief executive of Manheim in the UK, added: ‘This auction represented a unique one-stop shop opportunity for all of our customers. Manheim is the only remarketing business in Europe that can offer such a wide mixture of vehicles and volumes and the buyer to move seamlessly between four lanes at one centre in a single day. There was a really impressive mix of stock for all budgets.

‘With a record number of buyers the bidding was feverish throughout the auction and it was great to see all four lanes in action. This coupled with our ability to generate buying power in person and online demonstrates that Manheim can offer innovative and proactive remarketing solutions robust enough to meet any market conditions. I am very proud of what my team, working so closely with the Lex Autolease team has achieved in organising the largest ever single vendor UK auction sale.’