Fuel/interview: Paul Humphreys on eVA

It seems only fitting in this era of online customer journeys that we launched the new Fuel/talk podcast, hosted by Cox Automotive Customer Insight and Strategy Director James Davis, by sitting down with Paul Humphreys, managing director of Car Buying and Mobility Solutions to talk about eVA, the newest brand in the Cox Automotive portfolio.

Introduced in late 2019, eVA offers a suite of valuation and appraisal products to support dealers with the part-exchange process. Humphreys and his team could not have expected at the time that 2020 would see such a rapid acceleration in e-commerce and demand for online tools.

Indeed, of the many societal impacts caused by the COIVD-19 global pandemic, an increase in the requirement for seamless online vehicle transactions has presented dealers with the prompt to refresh and update their business models. The combination of needing to find innovative ways to keep their businesses operating, first remotely and then in a socially distanced way, along with consumers who are more comfortable and confident managing high ticket transactions online, has led to rapid technology adoption.

Humphreys comments: “Change had been coming down the track anyway, but recent events have made the whole industry look and say, ‘are we behaving in the right way to support our customers?’ Many dealers continued to sell cars through lockdown through successful use of e-commerce tools and remote selling. That has been a real catalyst for change. Clearly, we have seen manufacturers and dealers move in this direction in recent years, but the last few months has really galvanised the industry.”

The eVA platforms provide dealers with an end-to-end suite of data-driven tools to drive smart decision-making through part-exchange acquisitions and disposal. Building on decades of experience, in the UK and US, the team offers valuations that are on average 99.6% accurate across a basket of vehicles. So confident is eVA in the valuations, they also offer a cash advance for dealers, ensuring cash flow before the vehicle is even sold.

At this point, Humphreys outlines the importance of getting the customer experience right: “As we were developing eVA, we worked with several manufacturers who were introducing online vehicle purchase. We quickly learned the right questions to ask a customer when it comes to valuing a vehicle. We take the risk away from the retailer, as they know we will underwrite the purchase of the part-exchange vehicle. And we have figured out the balance between asking the customer enough to value the vehicle, but not so much they get bored throughout the process.”

Humphreys acknowledges there is risk in appraising and valuing a vehicle sight unseen but suggests consumers are far more likely to underrepresent their vehicle than over-describe. Indeed, he proposes consumers are motivated by the fear of being caught out at the point of exchange and having their new car snatched from their grasp because they have misdescribed their old vehicle. He adds that the risk of buying and selling online is around putting right any mismatch in expectations; de-risk that process and everyone is much more comfortable.

“I used to work in the travel industry,” explains Humphreys. “People said there is no way you will lose the high street travel agents. People need to talk to a human being about their holiday. Now, unless it is something complicated, you are going to book your holiday online. And that is a case of building trust, building understanding and, as a consumer, being able to see what you are purchasing. The difference for buying a car rather than buying a holiday or kitting out your wardrobe online is that you are not asking the clothes retailer to take your old jeans in return. But more than 50% of vehicle transactions have a part-exchange attached to them.”

To be both transparent and accurate, Humphreys explains you need to see the entire value chain – what the trader pays for the vehicle, what the dealer pays, what they advertise it for and how much they actually make at the end of the process. As well as extensive Manheim data, eVA also has inputs from Auto Trader and the SMMT. The experienced team layers onto the data their proprietary market knowledge and insight around auction, buyer, and vendor behaviour, as well as the quirks and seasonal inputs which can make a big difference to the price achieved.

“We’ve built our evaluations engine around an incredibly comprehensive data set and what we jokingly call the mixing desk,” comments Humphreys. “Imagine a DJ with all the knobs and sliders to adjust the tempo and rhythm, that is what we are doing in the background. We have got all these buttons, switches, dials and sliders that we are constantly adjusting to impact on how we value vehicles, constantly updating the algorithms in line with new data sets.”

While the Cox Automotive eVA valuation can be underwritten, de-risking the process for the retailer, there is also agility in the system. Dealers can input their own insight, for example if they know they are great at selling a particular vehicle type, and they are empowered to finalise the appraisal and valuation. They key is keeping the process transparent, connecting the online journey to the in-store experience, and removing any friction from the transaction.

Humphreys concludes by linking back to sales: “We’re talking about leads. Not only have they looked at a car on the dealer’s website, they have also gone to the trouble of appraising their own vehicle. Because you have put that ability into the consumer’s hands, they are now three quarters of the way through the journey before they come to you. If that is not a hot lead, I don’t know what is!”

Discover more

eVA is available in three levels, starting with eVA Lite, which is free and features the core features of eVA including in-store appraisal. Retailers can then choose to upgrade to Premium for online valuations and lead generation functionality, or Pro to fully white label the solution and override the valuations with the custom rules builder. Both Premium and Pro also come with the underwrite and advance options.

Full details can be found at eVAvaluations.com, or speak with your Cox Automotive contact.

To watch the full interview, click here or listen via Spotify or Apple Podcasts (search for Cox Automotive).