Cox Automotive has completed the acquisition of pkwNOW, a dealer-to-dealer online auction platform in Germany, for an undisclosed fee.

Headquartered in Lüdenscheid, pkwNOW has a wealth of experience in dealer and export vehicles, lease returns and fleet vehicles. The company has grown its market share to become one of the leading online trade auction platforms.

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Cox Automotive hopes the acquisition will scale its remarketing capability in Germany as well as increasing the volume of cars sold every year.

Martin Forbes, president of Cox Automotive International, said: “pkwNOW is a business in Germany that we have admired for some time, with clear synergies between their services and those within our Manheim Express digital auction portfolio. In acquiring additional German market expertise from pkwNOW, we plan to combine this with our innovative digital-first roadmap to truly transform the vehicle auctions business throughout Germany and Continental Europe.”

Cox Automotive has ambitious plans to disrupt the European D2D marketplace, having recently launched an artificial intelligence capability in its Manheim Express application to improve the vehicle purchasing experience for dealers. The acquisition represents  another step towards Cox Automotive’s growth plans within Europe.

Sebastian Fuchs, managing director of Manheim Express, added: “We have ambitious growth plans for Cox Automotive to become a major player in markets such as France, Spain and Italy. We hope to see Manheim Express trading over 100,000 cars by 2023, with similar growth aspirations for the other brands in our portfolio. The acquisition of pkwNOW and the footprint into Germany that this now gives us is a key step towards realising our growth ambitions.”

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pkwNOW’s chief executive Rick Cebulla will continue to lead the business.

In separate news, Cox Automotive recently warned that players in the used car market must act with caution amid promising forecasts.

Philip Northard, Cox Automotive insight and strategy director, said: “The lease and contract hire sector can’t get new product and can’t de-fleet many of those low mileage, nearly new cars that were hoped to enter the used car market in significant volume in the coming months.”