Artificial Intelligence Inside & Outside the Auction Gate

Auctions are critical to the automotive industry.

They facilitate the ecosystem through various services, such as logistics, vehicle grounding & staging, vehicle condition reporting and grading, reconditioning and many more business functions working together while aiming to sell these vehicles through as many available channels.

But the auctions can’t do it all themselves. A variety of vendors are working around the clock to provide tools making the auctions better, faster and more efficient.

The need for auto auctions is not likely to go away, but will the way they interact with customers change? Sure — we can all agree that everything has already changed. People are unable / unwilling to come into the auction lane, instead algorithms are optimizing their purchase choices for them. And we already know that vehicle condition is one of the most important elements in a wholesale buying decision.

How Artificial Intelligence helps boost auction sales

As with any buying decision, you really want to know what you’re getting. Images are a great start, but there’s much more that artificial intelligence can do to help.

Over the past few months, our team has begun to install the Ravin AutoScan system and Inspect applications at auctions across the US. This system leverages off-the-shelf CCTV (closed circuit TV) security cameras and mobile devices to capture vehicle condition that can be leveraged by lot managers, drivers, inspectors, arbitration teams.

You either drive through cameras or walk around a vehicle in 10 seconds and within minutes a remarketing pack and an understanding of vehicle condition powered by sophisticated AI algorithms and vision science is generated.

With off the shelf equipment and inexpensive per scan fees, the Ravin platform alleviates the pressure of resourcing and helps control the expenses attached to all the items related to vehicle condition.

What’s more, a Ravin solution can improve the efficiency of the most sought after professional inspectors by nearly eliminating lot walk time and presenting information quickly and efficiently for approval, route to recon or disclosure.

Simple drive-through system using standard CCTV-style cameras — one of Ravin’s deployment in the US

The benefits are soon visible: faster condition reports, more time spent on VDPs and higher conversion.

The auction business is changing in many great ways — both inside and outside the gate. Auction operations have frequently adopted change as technology alters standard processes. The introduction of AI based damage reports is an important trend for each auction to consider. At the end it’s always about providing the information to your customers the way they want to see it, and doing more standardized condition reports in less time.