A unique look back with a longstanding strategic partner
We are celebrating our 10th birthday. Not only is this a great milestone for our online car auction company, it is also the perfect opportunity to look back at the past decade with our very first and strategic partner in Belgium, Alphabet. Guido Ongena, Team Leader Remarketing and Kris Holvoet, Operations Manager at Alphabet Belgium talk about their collaboration with OPENLANE.
OPENLANE: How do you look back on the last 10 years of working with our company?
Guido Ongena: Alphabet was there in 2004, when OPENLANE first started. We were the first Belgian leasing company to supply vehicles to this new remarketing channel. This fundamentally different auction system OPENLANE had, gave a completely new dynamic to our sales operation and our results. Our collaboration has been smooth since the get-go and continues to be positive and constructive.
Kris Holvoet: Thanks to our mutual pursuit of optimal pricing and customer satisfaction, the auction methodology has continued to evolve throughout our collaboration. The continued interest from OPENLANE in the end-of-contract vehicles from Alphabet proves that, together, we have made the right choices. Our European remarketing model is therefore regarded as an international reference at Alphabet. In addition, both teams have always worked well together.
“Over the last 10 years, we have laid the foundations for an even more successful cooperation in the coming decades”.
OPENLANE: In your opinion, what is the added value of our vehicle auction platform?
Guido Ongena: OPENLANE is helping us sell beyond our current Benelux borders. Our cars and wrecks are offered by OPENLANE in countries where we do not normally do business. OPENLANE has a very strong operational and administrative side.
Kris Holvoet: OPENLANE has never been limited to just maximising sales volumes but has also always thought along with us on how to optimise processes, methodologies and technologies. Moreover, we have always greatly appreciated your advice. For Alphabet, OPENLANE is a great sounding board for launching new initiatives.
“OPENLANE helps our cars cross borders”.
OPENLANE: The values we stand for as a company are ‘neutrality’, ‘proximity’, ‘ambition’ and ‘integrity’. How do these values come across in our day-to-day collaboration?
Guido Ongena: Our experience is that OPENLANE applies these values daily in their actions, and in their ways of cooperating and communicating. It is a privilege for us to have OPENLANE as a partner.
Kris Holvoet: These company values have led us to build a solid partnership over the course of recent years with a dynamic that ensures that we will continue to work together successfully in the future. We have undertaken a lot together, both when opportunities presented themselves as well as when problems demanded rapid and bold action. We look forward to the future.
OPENLANE: Thank you for this sincere and open interview.
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