Classic car dealers have been given a new online route to acquiring stock with the launch of the new trade-to-trade remarketing platform, Classic Trade.

The new digital business aims to simplify the vehicle remarketing process by connecting dealers to a shared trade-only virtual showroom with hundreds of cars in stock.

A closed network of approved dealers and a third-party reviews system claims to provide “total trust and transparency”, meanwhile.

The new platform is the brainchild of former Aston Barclay head of new business, Robert Wittridge.

“With few options available outside of the exhaustive physical auction route, dealers tend to trade within their own limited networks, at Classic Trade we have taken that concept online giving dealers greater flexibility and control of their stock,” said Wittridge, Classic Trade’s founder and chief executive.

“Dealers can remain fluid when cashflow is needed, source-specific cars as required, rotate their stock easily, and have absolute confidence in our process.”

Classictrade.co.uk claims to allow dealers the ability to buy and sell to each other without the cost, risk or logistical complications associated with physical auctions.

It charges no buyer fees, no listing fees and no subscription charges – just a small seller fee upon the sale of a vehicle

The launch of Classic Trade demonstrates the rise of online stock sourcing methods in a week that saw Cox Automotive and Aston Barclay commit to a 100% online remarketing offering in the near-term.

This week also saw Motorway celebrate its delivery of record volumes of used car stock to the UK’s motor retailers post-lockdown – with £1.39m of sales completed in a single day last week.

The online stock source, which matches private car sellers with retailers to provide a ready-source of vehicle stock, delivered its record daily sales figure on June 10 and has seen transaction levels outstrip those seen prior to the COVID-19 crisis.