With its eponymous B2B online platform and its B2C counterpart Autohero upstream, and its procurement, logistics, and reconditioning capabilities downstream, Auto1 is playing a bold hand at the heart of Western Europe's most dynamic automotive market.

In this respect, its model is significantly more capital-intensive and risky than that of "pure player" marketplaces such as AutoScout24 or Auto Trader. On this subject, refer to, At Auto Trader Group, a near-monopoly falls collateral victim to AI fever, which we published last month.

However, if realized, its long-term vision could grant it far more extensive control over flows and the market as a whole, particularly in the B2B segment, which already accounts for four-fifths of the group's consolidated revenue.

Listed at the peak of the speculative bubble during the pandemic, Auto1 once commanded an enterprise value of over $10bn. The honeymoon did not last long, and the bursting of the bubble led to a tenfold reduction in this enterprise value within a few quarters, before a powerful rebound brought it back to around €6bn.

This is because its growth remains extraordinarily sustained. It should be recalled that the group was founded in 2012; that its revenue quadrupled between 2016 and 2025; and that this expansion showed no signs of slowing down in the first half of the 2026 fiscal year. Furthermore, notably, its operating accounts have finally moved into the black over the last two years.

However, these accounting figures remain somewhat theoretical. Auto1 is not yet in a position to self-finance - let alone return capital to its shareholders - because its growth implies an extraordinary appetite for working capital, which absorbed a further 665 million euros last year. Investors' patience therefore remains seriously tested.

Management, for its part, remains faithful to its vision and its long-term target of capturing a 10% share of used car transactions in Europe - a market estimated at 600 billion euros per year - while achieving an EBITDA margin of between 5% and 9%. At current price levels, investors are giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Backed by SoftBank, the group's two co-founders still hold more than a fifth of the capital between them.