The company’s Retail Business Unit saw new vehicle sales rise nearly 20%, while used vehicle sales surged by 32%. The Distribution Business Unit also continued its steady growth, despite challenges earlier in the year.
AutoWallis, which operates in 16 Central and Eastern European countries, sold 36,346 vehicles in the first nine months of the year, marking a 4.1% increase over the same period in 2023. The Retail Business Unit led the growth, with new vehicle sales up 19.7% to 7,196 units and used vehicle sales climbing 31.8% to 1,905 units.
The company attributed part of the growth to its recent acquisition of Czech-based Stratos Auto, which added three BMW dealerships to AutoWallis’s portfolio. This acquisition contributed 6% to the sales increase, along with strong performance from AutoWallis’s Renault and Dacia dealership in Budapest. The 19.7% increase in new vehicle sales far outpaced Hungary’s national average of 7.3% for newly registered vehicles.
AutoWallis CEO Gábor Ormosy expressed confidence that the company would close 2024 with record-breaking sales, as expected growth continues through the final quarter.
He said that sales figures are in line with the group’s expectations, and that they anticipate further growth by year’s end. The CEO noted that this will allow AutoWallis to surpass last year’s performance and set new records for the group.
The company’s Distribution Business Unit, which saw a slight decrease in the first quarter of 2024, has rebounded in the second and third quarters. Sales dipped by just 0.8% year-over-year, with 27,245 units sold through September. This modest drop was attributed to high sales during late 2022 and early 2023, as well as shipping delays linked to maritime issues, including disruptions in the Suez Canal and Red Sea.
Despite these challenges, the Distribution Business Unit saw significant improvement in the latter half of the reporting period. Sales grew by 15.6% in the second quarter, reaching 10,729 units, and by 13.9% in the third quarter, with 7,934 vehicles sold. While the South Korean automaker SsangYong recorded a sharp decline in sales, the overall performance of other brands helped mitigate the impact.
The Mobility Services Business Unit, which includes short- and long-term vehicle rentals as well as fleet management, also posted strong growth. The number of rental events soared to 283,639, driven in large part by the acquisition of wigo carsharing. However, the total fleet size decreased slightly, down 1.6% to 3,853 vehicles, due to rationalization efforts. Short-term vehicle rental days, meanwhile, rose by 3.8%, reaching 157,042 days.
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