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AUTO1 Group reports strong and profitable growth in Q3 2020

Berlino, 10 dicembre 2020

Berlin, 10 December 2020 – AUTO1 Group, Europe’s leading platform for buying and selling used cars online, today announced its Q3 2020 results, demonstrating continued strong growth and significantly improved financial performance as COVID-19 restrictions eased in many of the countries in which the company operates.

The number of cars sold on AUTO1’s platforms increased to approximately 120,000 in Q3 2020, a growth of 82% from the previous quarter. Revenue increased by 90% to €769 million from €404 million in the previous quarter. Due to the reduction of inventory during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, revenue was 17% lower year on year. Despite the impact of COVID-19 and reflecting the shift to our new digital sell from home solution, gross profit margin significantly improved to 11.3% from 9.5% in Q3 2019, helping to achieve an adjusted EBITDA¹ of €16 million in Q3 2020 (Q3 2019: €(11.5) million).

The Q3 2020 results highlight the strong and resilient business model of AUTO1. Under its merchant brand AUTO1, the company operates Europe’s largest wholesale platform for used cars, which are sold through its websites and apps to more than 60,000 professional car dealers across Europe. With its retail brand Autohero, the company has created an easy, hassle-free way for consumers to purchase used cars online and having them delivered to their doorsteps, making it the first fully digital car buying offering for consumers in Europe.

Christian Bertermann, CEO and co-Founder of AUTO1 Group: “In a year of unprecedented challenges, AUTO1 Group once again proved both the strength and the enormous potential of its unique business model. We are proud to have reached profitability on an adjusted EBITDA level in Q3. It’s now time to continue our mission to build Autohero into the best way to buy a car online. There is strong demand for a fully digital used car buying experience for customers, and that’s why we are now rapidly scaling our Autohero brand to become Europe’s go-to brand for buying used cars online.”

In the highly fragmented used car market in the European Union, which amounts to approximately €600 billion² , AUTO1 Group is the leading platform for buying and selling used cars, offering a wide range of used cars in more than 30 countries, across more than 78 brands and at various price points. In 2019, more than 615,000 vehicles were sold via its websites and apps, and the company has traded more than two million cars on its platform since it was founded in Berlin in 2012.

AUTO1 Group plans to continue building on its leadership position, particularly by investing in its Autohero retail brand, which offers consumers the ability to purchase used cars fully online while trading in their existing vehicles.

Markus Boser, CFO at AUTO1 Group: “We have established a fully digital platform for buying and selling used cars and have demonstrated high growth rates with a CAGR of approximately 93% between 2014 and 2019. The profitability improvements we report today are an important proof point for our business model and underscore our financial flexibility. Going forward, our focus will continue to be on investing significantly into building our retail business, which we believe presents a huge opportunity based on our existing platform. We intend to invest over the next years to promote the Autohero brand, build out the necessary infrastructure and to establish additional service offerings around our retail business.”

About AUTO1 Group
Founded in 2012, AUTO1 Group is a multi-brand technology company that is building the best way to buy and sell cars online. Its local European consumer brands like wirkaufendeinauto.de offer consumers the fastest and easiest way to sell their car. Its merchant brand, AUTO1.com, is Europe’s largest wholesale platform for car trading professionals. With its retail brand Autohero, AUTO1 Group is using its technology, scale and operational excellence to develop the best consumer experience to buy a car online. AUTO1 Group is operating in over 30 countries and achieved revenues of €3.5 billion in 2019.

¹ Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA, adjusted for (i) share based payments, (ii) change of basis of assessment for value added taxes, (iii) correction of payables and (iv) other non operating expenses

² For 2019 and including sales among businesses; Source: OC&C Strategy and Analytics GmbH, Germany, “European Used Car & B2B Sourcing Market”