[Aditya]

Toyota is planning to start auctioning used cars in India. This business will be launched under the Toyota Auction Mart brand in September 2015 in Bengaluru. The company will buy used cars of all makes. These vehicles will be inspected and certified by its engineers and will be rated on 203 parameters to assess their worth and price for the auction. An auction facility has been set up at Bidadi for the same.

In Japan, Toyota auctions vehicles though its own companies - Toyota Auto Auction and Chubu Auto Auction. In Taiwan it auctions them through Hotai Auto Auction.

Toyota's used car business in India is operated under the Toyota U-Trust brand, which was launched in 2007 and covers 56 markets in 19 states. The motive behind auctioning vehicles is to expand its used-car business. Toyota's new car sales have been sluggish. The company has missed its sales targets for the larger part of its presence in India. The used car business could provide some relief to the manufacturer.

The used car market is growing at a rapid rate. Maruti's True Value brand is leading the way (click here to read report).

Source: Economic Times

[itwasntme]

They are aggressively buying up quality used cars here in BLR. Going to expand into smaller towns as well I hear.

[Sangre]

Interesting development for sure! The Japanese have a culture of car auctions. I'd seen on TV a Japanese car auction some time back. Are we going to get something like this ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9eyt4y-CBs

[ram_hyundai]

Considering the holding cost of these used cars and the intricacies in the used car loans in India, Bidding them off is a good option. Provided they set the base price with a decent margins. I think they are trying to evoke a trend like the online shopping trend in India. Convenience and speed of transaction does matter to most and consider the time saved more than anything.
Many of the Maruti True value outlets are worried about the holding cost. They make money from outsourcing. Still cant say that they can hold on for ever like that when players like Toyota comes with such ideas.

[RavenAvi]

Toyota India teed off it's official "Auction Mart" in Bangalore earlier today, thus becoming the first Indian automotive manufacturer to start this unique used car venture.

The first auction has been scheduled for September 15th, 2015, and will take place at a newly constructed facility in the Toyota plant.

The Mart is currently a B2B (Business to Business) model.

In Toyota Auction Mart, every used car from all brands will go through detailed inspection that will determine the current quality level of the car thereby ensuring quality for the end users of the product.

Commenting on the launch, Naomi Ishii, Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said, "India's used car market continues to grow rapidly every year, yet remains largely unorganised. The launch of Toyota Auction Mart signifies our efforts to develop a fair and transparent used car market with increased reliability for our customers and will contribute to the Indian society".

N Raja, Director & Senior Vice President, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, "Toyota Auction Mart will help OEM dealers to increase their new car sales by faster liquidating their used car inventory, so that they can purchase more used cars to support new car sales and provide many variety of used cars to individual used car dealers at one place".

ET Auto

[shobhit.shri]

Would buying a German car from Toyota auction give me the best of both worlds or I am just getting delusional?