But, we’re obviously dealing with that, and obviously trying to maximize our performance, given the constraints that exist at the moment. But I’m pleased with at least some of the breaks that we saw in Q1.
Robert Labick: Okay. Great. It was fantastic commercial volume, despite the higher equity. And then, so kind of relates to that the dealer growth, I know you mentioned this potential trade-off if someone’s on the state, you could get a commercial car, a dealer car, you take the commercial car, now that’s – so that’ll impact dealer cars as well. But it’s been hard to come by for dealer-to-dealer growth for you guys for a little while now. What’s going to change? What has to change and what will change to get dealer car volumes up in absolute volume?
Peter Kelly: Yeah. So good question, Bob. Listen, I agree with your comment, I think dealer volume growth has been hard to come by, and I would say probably in the industry, the dealer volume growth has been more flat at an industry level as well in fact at an industry dealer volumes physical auctions were down in Q1 based on the data we have. So, listen, what I’d say Bob is we launched our one marketplace OPENLANE in late in Q4, so really Q1 was the first full quarter where we had that offering in market. I’m pleased with the performance of that marketplace we grew our open sale transactions in aggregate compared to Q1 of last year, so that’s positive, obviously, a lot of that growth was driven by commercial, but dealer consignment was also very strong.
We saw increased consignment from dealers. We gained share vis-à-vis physical auctions in Q1. So I’m encouraged by that. I’m also encouraged by the reaction we’re getting from customers. So what are we doing, I think things like I mentioned absolute sale improving condition report those are things that we’re doing. We’re increasing our dialogue and focus with some of the largest dealer groups in the industry, making some positive progress there as well. And we’re looking at our sales and marketing operations, we’ve had a brand change to OPENLANE, there’s still a bit of a brand awareness who is OPENLANE and “Oh I didn’t really know, you had this great dealer-to-dealer solution.” So we’ve heard that as we’ve done some research.
And we’ve got some areas where maybe we could use an extra person or two on the ground in certain regions of the country. So all of these things are being addressed and, obviously, it’s a top focus of mine and of this company to continue to grow this part of the business particularly in an era, where we think the industry is fundamentally shifting in a more digital direction.
Robert Labick: Okay. Super. I appreciate that. Thank you.
Peter Kelly: Thank you, Bob. I think we have time for one more question.
Operator: Okay, the last question is from Bret Jordan of Jefferies. Go ahead, please.
Bret Jordan: Thanks, guys. I’ll make it quick. As you look at the off-lease volumes and next year is the trough year here in lease returns and, I guess, you make some assumptions about equity gap and buyout rates. Do you see your off-lease business growing in 2025, given it’s a trough here in units, but with the lower buyouts that are likely coming offset that?
Peter Kelly: So Bret, great question and thank you for that. This is a scenario where it’s possible to model and it’s very difficult to predict with confidence, is how I describe it. So we, obviously, have done quite a detailed amount of modeling around this and various sort of scenario planning. And I guess, what I’d say, Bret, is my current assessment is that the interplay of the two things that you just mentioned, the lower volumes at the top of the funnel, but also the lower percentage of consumer buyouts. I think in most scenarios that we model that will be a net positive for us. There are some scenarios where maybe it’s more of a wash, maybe it’s more flat, but there are plenty of scenarios where if you apply what I think is a reasonable judgment to the situation, our volumes can still move in a positive direction.
Now, that remains to be seen, I’m not committing to that on this call. But, obviously, we do a lot of planning and we’re looking at it through that lens. And then the positive news, I just want to reiterate that again, is that we’re now four quarters into increasing lease originations. And I believe in Q1, lease origination has increased by about 25% versus Q1 of last year. So the trough is a fact, but it also comes to an end, and leasing is rebounding, new vehicle incentives are increasing, number of new vehicles on dealer’s lots are increasing, and volumes of off-lease vehicles will increase. And frankly, that is not too far away at this point. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And, I think that will be very positive for this company.
I think we’re in a great position to serve our customer base as those volumes come to market.
Bret Jordan: Great. Thank you.
Peter Kelly: Thank you, Bret. So I think that concludes our question. So, before we end the call, I just would like to acknowledge Mike Eliason, our Treasurer and Vice President of Investor Relations. Mike will be retiring from OPENLANE before our next earnings call. Mike has been with this company for 25 years and has always kept our investor community updated and informed on OPENLANE’s performance, and all of the transactions and transformations that we’ve gone through over the past years. So, Mike, a sincere thank you for your many contributions to OPENLANE as well as to our investors, and we wish you all the very best. To the audience, thank you for joining us today. I look forward to speaking to you again on our next call and sharing more about how OPENLANE is making wholesale easy, so our customers can be more successful. Thank you very much.
Operator: The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.
