Specific weaknesses place the remarketing sector under increased threat from cybercrime, Vehicle Remarketing Association members heard at their first meeting of 2026.
Mark Rodbert, CEO at idax Software, explained that rapid staff turnover in environments such as dealerships made it challenging to create a cybersecurity-aware culture, while the large amount of financial information gathered about customers for motor finance made businesses attractive targets.
The meeting – held at the Meriden offices of epyx – covered remarketing and crime, including trends in vehicle theft, “ghost” number plates, and clocking.
Philip Nothard, VRA chair, said, “The types of crime affecting remarketing are constantly changing and adapting, and our members are very much aware of the financial and reputational impact of becoming victims.
“In this meeting, we provided a comprehensive briefing covering important areas where crime is a growing concern, and provided useful ideas that should help them to resist criminal activity.”
Chris Worton‑Smith, National Sales Manager at Jepson, talked to the meeting about the rise of ghost plates, being examined by police as above.
“This is a subject that has received a lot of publicity but more importantly, has helped to highlight that number plate security in the UK is surrounded by many structural problems.
“Becoming a number plate supplier is too easy and there are just four people employed to audit 34,000 suppliers.
“Perhaps more importantly, out of 118 countries, the UK and Ireland are the only two not to include some form of security marks on their plates.
“It has been too easy to make, sell, and buy plates that are not just non-compliant with regulations but are sometimes used to commit crimes.
“Thankfully, the DVLA and the government seem to have recognised the need for change, and there are a range of positive steps underway, with some included in the official new Road Safety Strategy.”
Steve Whitaker, police liaison manager at Tracker Network, explained that the momentum behind current trends in car theft were that sophisticated equipment was cheap and easy to acquire, and the gangs using it were often highly professional and sometimes international organisations.
“Keyless theft is the biggest issue right now. Manufacturers are aware of this and try to engineer their way out of the problem by creating improvements, but thieves then try to reverse engineer those advances.
“There are a range of effective solutions that remarketing businesses can adopt, from better key management to tighter auction day security, but really the biggest advance is to increase awareness of the current risks.”
As well as covering crime, the VRA meeting also received an in-depth briefing on the present new and used car markets from Chris Plumb, head of current car valuations at cap hpi.
“December ended on a slow note, with retailers telling us the lateness of the Budget served as a damper and that consumers mentally switched straight over to Christmas, removing a lot of sales potential.
“The news about January so far is much positive, with general feedback suggesting sales have been in line with expectations. In fact, our overall forecast for 2026 is that it will fairly normal year, despite major trends such as rising levels of pre-registrations and the effects of the Vehicle Emissions Trading Scheme.”
