About OPENLANE
Our purpose is to make used car wholesale easy so our customers can be more successful.
User-friendly marketplace
Our digital marketplace is the fresh wave carrying the automotive industry into the digital age. We give car traders more opportunities, more flexibility and more freedom than can be found anywhere else. Our strong commitment to quality and service drives us to continuously improve our offerings to suit the industry’s ever-evolving needs. We aim to be the best and we strive to help our customers do the same. With flexible, modular and end-to-end remarketing solutions, and customer service in more than 20 languages, we offer innovative, tech-driven solutions and services that help customers to buy and sell with ease across Europe.
OPENLANE Entities
Why buy at OPENLANE?
Our digital marketplace lets you explore a vast selection of vehicles from trusted sellers all over Europe with ease. Designed to be user-friendly and modular, our marketplace features multilingual services, making it simple for you to buy any car online.
Whether you want to shop locally or across borders, you can participate in open or private auctions and choose from a wide range of vehicles—including higher mileage, young, low mileage, margin, or damaged cars. You have the flexibility to purchase at fixed, dynamic, or negotiated prices.
Discover the easiest marketplace with only one secure access to the largest variety of well-described vehicles from dealers, manufacturers, and fleet managers.
More than anywhere else, we streamline the entire process, making it easy for you to find, bid on, pay for, transport, and deliver your vehicles. Plus, our dedicated team offers advice and guidance in your language, available 24/7, to assist you every step of the way.
Why sell with OPENLANE?
Our marketplace lets you tab into a vast network of over 125,000 buyers located in more than 50 countries. This doesn’t just maximise your chance of selling, it also means you attract the best prices out there. Our buyers are interested in everything from pristine passenger cars to damaged utility vehicles. And you access them without any hassle.
If you sell in our open auctions, you communicate directly with us, and we handle all the tricky parts, including payments and exports, thanks to our cross-border expertise. All within a safe and secure marketplace that’s accessible from any device. Alternatively, you can opt to sell in our private auctions, where you sell and communicate directly with your own network of dealers.
Sold cars across Europe
Registered buyers
Countries
OPENLANE makes selling cars simple from start to finish. We provide a range of remarketing solutions, including inspection, valuation and trade-in services, auction and fixed-price trading services, as well as pick-up and delivery, and co-listing services.
We also offer end-to-end invoicing and a range of AI-powered commercial tools that make initiating auctions as well as optimizing and managing sales smooth and satisfying.
OPENLANE’s milestones
2004
COTW (CarsOnTheWeb) is founded as a company in Belgium.
2005
In January, we organise our first online auction in Belgium. Many more are soon to follow.
2006
We branch out by establishing COTW Germany.
2007
We establish an entity in France and follow it up with Italy.
2008
We sell our 10,000th car.
2009
We move to our headquarters at the Grijpenlaan in Tienen.
2010
ING Activator Fund and Ark Angels Fun invest in our company.
2012
We celebrate our 15,000th auction.
2013
Newly established entity in the Netherlands begins auctioning vehicles.
2014
We celebrate our 30,000th auction.
2015
We start auctioning the first vehicles from the Balkan region and Poland.
2016
Vortex Capital Partners and ABN AMRO Participaties invest in COTW. ADESA launches its first digital-first approach in the UK.
2017
We sell our 42.000th car in Europe. ADESA’s new auction platform goes live in the UK
2018
We acquire German network for car trade GWLISTE.DE. KAR announces definitive agreement to acquire COTW.
2019
KAR Finalizes Acquisition of COTW (January ‘19). ADESA introduces AI to vehicle inspection in the UK
2020
A challenging yet successful year: We performed well thanks to good buyer demand, even with lower inventory available on the European market
2021
Despite the many challenges – think of the chip and magnesium shortages which resulted in low inventory – we achieved good results in 2021 and paved the path for growth in 2022.
2022
We integrated the British and German brands into adesa.eu.
2023
ADESA Europe becomes OPENLANE Europe.
OPENLANE Inc.
OPENLANE is backed by OPENLANE Inc., a global leader in building the most trusted automotive marketplaces through innovation, technology and people.
Operating locations across the US, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom and Europe.
Vehicles sold in 2023
Countries in our customer base
Employees