 "Copart India to auction vehicles hit by Chennai catastrophe")
Copart India Private Limited, a leading online auction company for salvage and used vehicles, is ready to conduct first online virtual auction for cars which were affected in the recent floods at Chennai. While auctions are conducted regularly from their yard in Sonepat, Haryana, this is the first auction by the company in India for vehicles affected by a catastrophe.
According to the company's website, the vehicles, which are put out in auction include Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Maruti and others. The company has taken around five acres of land near Chennai to park them. The vehicles are cleaned and washed to avoid further damage and interiors treated to prevent bacteria growth. These vehicles are being auctioned on behalf of insurers and owners.
The inventory includes 2015 Audi A4 3.5 TDI and pre-bid for it was put out as Rs 3.10 lakh (auction starting price) at the company's website.
Copart Inc, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, entered India in 2014 and commenced operations in August 2015 through their fully-owned subsidiary, Copart India Private Limited, which has its corporate office in Gurgaon, Haryana. Copart, founded in 1982, provides vehicle sellers with a full range of re-marketing services to process and sell salvage and clean title vehicles to dealers, dismantlers, rebuilders, exporters and, in some states, to end users.
Copart's Indian subsidiary is headed by former Fiat's managing director Rajeev Kapoor.
One of the specialisations of the company is auctioning vehicles which are affected by catastrophes globally. This will be the first catastrophe, after the company commenced its operations in India in August 2015.
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Sources said that the company is planning to sell around 1,000-1,500 vehicles from Chennai yard through VB3 e-auction platform. The auction scheduled on Wednesday, January 6, 2016, has around 160 cars listed and these include Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, FIAT, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Nissan and others.
"Though each contract is unique, we normally charge a small fee for our services from buyers as well as sellers," said a company source.
Copart has introduced the services to auto insurance companies, banks, NBFIs and fleet operators as it has done in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Spain.
The company, which claims no other player in India offers such end to end services, plans to have all India footprint. After opening yard at Sonepat, near New Delhi and Chennai, it is looking at opening yards in Central, Western and Northern parts of India. The company will focus on cars and commercial vehicles.
Copart sells vehicles on behalf of insurance companies, banks, finance companies, fleet operators, dealers, car dealerships and others as well as cars sourced from the general public. Company's response to Catastrophe would allow faster settlement of claims and cleaning up of the city of vehicles damaged during recent floods.