ACV said Tuesday it has launched a new platform that gives dealer groups and commercial partners a way to host closed sales for select audiences.

ACV PRIVATE MARKETPLACES will first be available for large dealership groups with multiple locations, and then for commercial consignors looking for a way to host closed auction sales.

In an emailed Q&A, ACV chief executive officer George Chamoun confirmed the commercial partners would be consignors like banks, captive finance companies and fleet/lease companies.

So, what was the impetus to develop such a platform?

“Dealers and commercial partners vocalized a desire for having a private marketplace for a pre-determined list of buyers, allowing vehicles to be kept within a family of dealerships,” Chamoun said in the Q&A. “This helps them leverage their scale to buy and sell used vehicles, while efficiently managing their profits. Our proprietary technology and data analysis shows us that within PRIVATE MARKETPLACES, vehicles listed for sale within a specific dealer group results in the vehicle landing at a retail location where it sells faster and with better margins, compared to the legacy methods.”

Here’s a bit more about how the platform is designed to work.

If a dealer wants a vehicle to be in a private sale, they simply list it in their specific  private marketplace. The vehicle would then be accessible to buyers on the invite-only list.

Auction time frames are flexible. If an invited participant cannot attend with the period, they can place a proxy bid.

Then if the vehicle does not hit the minimum price in the private sale, the seller can list it in the ACV open marketplace.

Dealer groups can access ACV PRIVATE MARKETPLACES now. ACV plans to offer it to commercial partners later this year.

“We’re helping dealer groups and OEM lenders keep inventory within their family of rooftops. This helps them leverage their scale to buy and sell used vehicles and have access to more inventory, while maximizing profits,” Chamoun said in a news release.

“Our proprietary technology and data analysis shows that within our private marketplace offering, vehicles that are listed for sale amongst a selected group of dealer invitees results in a vehicle being more likely to land at a retail location where it will sell faster and with better margins vs the legacy tools that dealers are using to trade within a group,” Chamoun said.

“ACV PRIVATE MARKETPLACES is a natural next step in our continued growth, meeting the needs of dealer groups and commercial partners of all sizes, while also allowing us to add new sources of supply to our marketplace.”

When the company beta tested the platform, the feedback from dealers was “glowing,” ACV national director of  major accounts Kraig Quisenberry said in a news release. Dealers had requested a platform that lets them trade within their own network and provides a “more personalized, self-service experience,” Quisenberry said.

“As a data and technology company, we are well positioned to meet these types of dealer asks, no matter the size of the dealer’s business,” he said. “Our core product helps dealers small and large digitize their businesses and drive their bottom lines, whereas new products like ACV PRIVATE MARKETPLACES help the larger dealer groups and commercial partners optimize vehicle trades within their networks.”

And when asked how such a platform might help dealer groups during the supply crunch and high used-car prices, Chamoun said in the Q&A: “The key benefit for large dealer groups is to ensure vehicles are getting to the best retail location. Specific vehicles (make, model and condition) sell better at specific retail location. Our platform enables dealer groups to leverage their scale for both trades and aged inventory.”