How would you describe Autocirc’s 2024 from your perspective as CEO?

The market Autocirc operates in is growing. Several mega-trends have a positive impact: the increasing number of vehicles in use and the fact that they are ageing, the importance of sustainability for customers and regulatory bodies, and the technological shifts in the industry. The overall economic environment is also making people increasingly cost-sensitive.

In this context, Autocirc has a strong purpose: we give new life to cars. I would claim that our vision to build the leading ecosystem in Europe for recycling cars and selling reused parts is unique. So is our positioning in establishing circular service agreements for “total loss vehicles” and reused OEM parts with insurers and workshops, at scale. The quality of our recycling factories and processes – and hence, the quality of the parts we supply, is unique as well. 

Autocirc is circular by nature. With our model, we evidently provide significant CO2 savings to our customers – insurance companies, workshops, car owners – but we also help them reduce the financial burden of repairing cars. The combination of circularity, cost savings, and quality, at scale, is an amazing value proposition for all our stakeholders.

Finally, and most importantly, Autocirc is a team of very committed people. We have acquired 66 companies over the last few years, and what stands out most positively in my mind is that the former owners and employees of these companies are now fully part of Autocirc. They have stayed with us, they share the same ambition to make a difference for the circularity of the automotive industry, and they understand that doing it together is better than alone. That makes me confident about our future.

What were the most significant events?

I would say that we continue to grow very well organically, with more insurers and workshops trusting us and signing circular service agreements. There is a very powerful equation: the more insurers provide us with high- quality cars, the more quality parts we can dismantle; the more workshops order reused parts from us, the lower the cost of repairing cars becomes – and the more CO2 is saved for the benefit of our planet.

We have had very strong companies joining Autocirc in 2024: C.A.P.O SAS Pontarlier and Auto-Pièces Louhans in France, GBD Grønvolds Bil-Demontering in Norway, and SVP Auto in Portugal. These companies complement our geographical coverage well and add expertise in different domains, such as the recycling of electric vehicles and batteries.

We have also continued to invest in developing the organisation’s strength overall, as well as in industrialising our recycling centres. 

Autocirc has adopted a new strategy under your leadership. Can you describe the most important aspects of it?

I used the first months at Autocirc to meet as many people as possible, listen, and learn – and I still have a lot to learn. As mentioned earlier, the commitment of everyone to make a difference in the automotive industry is a very strong engine for us. But it was also clear that our teams were expecting more clarity. From the very start, we decided that this clarity had to be built with them. We are a decentralized organisation, with significant autonomy and accountability locally, close to our customers. 

We engaged our teams across different countries to define our strategic targets, our key directions, our culture and values, and the way we measure our progress. Our new strategy, ”Race to Scale”, was born. We have high ambitions and have identified five “must-win battles” where we focus and develop our competitiveness. 

When the strategy is clear, it is about execution. And the best execution starts with good communication with all our employees and understanding how every one of them will contribute, every day, everywhere.

Regarding Autocirc’s future expansion, what types of companies or units will be prioritised to strengthen the ecosystem in accordance with the strategy?

The core of our ecosystem is partnering with insurers through circular service agreements, dismantling and recycling cars, and selling reused OEM parts. Our aim is to have the best dismantlers across Europe joining Autocirc and forming the backbone of the leading ecosystem. 

One of our must-win battles is about maximising the circularity value for every car. We believe that trading cores, remanufacturing, recycling metals, plastics, rims, tyres, and other raw materials are an essential part of this. Our ecosystem in these domains will be composed of both Autocirc companies and partners.

Finally, we have activities in towing and transporting cars, in repair workshops, and in building battery energy storage systems. These make sense when they support the core of our ecosystem and add value to insurers or workshops.

How do you see technology shaping Autocirc’s success?

I believe technology will be an increasingly important and differentiating factor for us. Two domains come to mind. First, electric vehicles and batteries. Thanks to our strong presence in Norway and the Nordics, and the fact that we are already recycling a fair number of electric vehicles today, we are uniquely positioned. By 2030, we estimate that we will have dismantled 1.3 GWh of electric batteries! We are building the savoir-faire to make a difference. We have capabilities to support insurers in maximising electric car values and underwriting, to set the standards in transporting, dismantling, assessing the health and condition, and storing batteries. These will help the industry understand which batteries can be reused or repurposed, and which need to be recycled.

The second domain is digitalisation. We have the industry’s largest inventory of reused OEM parts, and by digitalising our operations, we can deliver even greater value to our customers, employees, and investors. For example, we use advanced data analytics to identify which parts should be dismantled based on demand, and we are digitalising our pan- European inventory to make it easily accessible.

What is your outlook for 2025 and beyond?

Our Race to Scale strategy sets ambitious goals for leading in customer satisfaction and employee engagement, for accelerating our profitable growth, and for cutting carbon in our operations and those of our customers. We have a strongly committed team, dedicated to executing our strategy and delivering on its targets. We understand that it requires new ways of working, new expertise, and the mindset and ability to lead change.

Hence, we are strengthening our organisation, investing in our people, in hiring new talent, and in new operational capabilities, focusing on M&A, sales, digitalisation, industrialisation, and logistics. I am thankful, and I trust our teams are committed to race to scale, together.

Hugues Delval

CEO

Borås, April 2025