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Historic Record at AURES Holdings: Nearly 109,000 Cars Sold
Prague, January 13, 2025 – AURES Holdings, which operates the AAA AUTO, Mototechna, and Auto Diskont networks, achieved its best sales results in history last year, selling a total of 108,661 vehicles. AURES averaged 9,000 vehicle sales per month, with the highest number sold in August, surpassing the psychological barrier of ten thousand vehicles. In the Czech Republic, AURES sold nearly sixty thousand vehicles for the first time. Records were also broken in Slovakia and Poland. The company attributes its success to a significant improvement in customer experience, the use of modern generative artificial intelligence technologies, and further strengthening its position as the largest seller of used and nearly new cars in Central and Eastern Europe.
“The interest in used and nearly new cars sold through our centers was record-breaking last year – we sold the highest number of cars in our 32-year history. Across all the countries we operate in, we sold nearly 109,000 vehicles, marking an 11% year-on-year increase. This means that by the end of January, we will reach a total of 3.3 million customers who have sold or bought a car from us. Sales remained strong even at the very end of last year, and interest continues now in the early days of the new year. This is also why we have increased our total offering within the group to 19,000 vehicles. Our goal is to maintain the same sales growth this year, and we will continue to focus on expanding and renovating existing centers while opening new ones,” said Karolína Topolová, CEO and Chairwoman of AURES Holdings. “A big thank you for our new sales record goes especially to our customers and our nearly three and a half thousand employees,” added Karolína Topolová.
In addition to rapidly advancing digitalization, the company sees continuous work on enhancing customer satisfaction across all countries as a key factor in its success. “We measure this using the independent NPS methodology. We have managed to improve our results again this year, and by the end of the year, we approached the 50-point mark within NPS. We are unique in measuring this value in our industry, which provides us with feedback not only on the customer experience but also on what we can improve in our processes. Our goal is for customers to be satisfied and have a reason to return to us,” emphasized Karolína Topolová.
The successful implementation of generative AI into the company’s internal processes has also significantly contributed to the growth in transaction volume. “We will continue in this trend. We see AI as another tool for increasing our market share. Thanks to AI agents in our customer center, we are already buying hundreds of cars monthly, and this number will continue to grow in the coming year. This significantly shortens the contact time of ‘live’ operators with customers and enhances their comfort, as they can handle the sale of their vehicles outside regular customer center hours,” said Karolína Topolová.
Processes utilizing generative AI and machine learning within AURES Holdings include vehicle buybacks, leveraging the best purchasing opportunities, implementing dynamic pricing, predicting optimal allocation of stock vehicles, executing data-driven marketing strategies, and managing personalized online interactions. The elite center of excellence, Resulmatic, is responsible for working with data applications, which have become a key factor in business success within AURES.
The best-selling brand in the Czech AAA AUTO network is Škoda, with a 30% market share, which improved year-on-year in 2024 due to the popularity of its models. For three consecutive years, the top three best-selling cars have been Škoda models: Octavia (10.3%), Fabia (6.4%), and Superb (3.4%). For the second year, five out of the top ten best-selling cars belong to Škoda. The fifth position is held by Hyundai i30 (2.3%), pushing Volkswagen Golf out of the top five, with Volkswagen Passat in sixth (2.7%). Czechs have long preferred group vehicles, viewing them as reliable and more accessible due to an extensive service network. In Slovakia, Škoda also maintains its lead with models Octavia (9.5%) and Fabia (5.2%). In Poland, the traditional favorite is Opel with the Astra (4.5%), but Škoda is also gaining ground with the Octavia.
Despite hatchbacks being the most sold vehicle type in the Czech Republic last year (26.4%), their position is gradually weakening. Estates are trailing by just over a hundred units with a 26.2% share, while SUVs are slightly behind with a 25.4% share. Hatchbacks are also losing ground in other countries. For example, in Slovakia, they accounted for 29.8% of sales in AAA AUTO last year, losing over 2% year-on-year. In contrast, estates increased to 25.2%, while SUVs stood at 25.1%. In Poland, hatchbacks hold a 34.3% market share, SUVs at 26.7%, and estates at 18.3%.
In terms of fuel types, gasoline vehicles again lead across all countries where AAA AUTO operates (Czech Republic 48.4%, Poland 57.8%, Slovakia 47.8%). The weakening position of diesel is most often in favor of alternative fuel options.. “Last year, we sold more than double the number of electric vehicles year-on-year, specifically 900. The number of hybrids sold increased by 68% to nearly five thousand,” added Karolína Topolová. The most popular electric vehicles last year in the Czech Republic were the Tesla Model 3, BMW i3, and Hyundai Kona.
A new phenomenon in car equipment is the gradual rise of automatic transmissions. Last year, 33% of sold cars in the Czech Republic had automatic transmissions, up from 29% the previous year. In Slovakia, the number of automatic transmissions rose from 27% in 2023 to 33% in 2024. In Poland, the increase in preference for automatics was the highest, rising from 20% to 27%, a jump of seven percentage points.
