The Daily Vroom

Good Morning Vroomers,

Happy New Year to you and your families.

As we turn the page on another year in the auction market, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on what actually matters heading into 2026. Not just the headline sales or the cars that broke records, but the platforms themselves. How they’re operating. Where they’re strong. Where there’s real opportunity to push harder.

This piece isn’t about what sold or what didn’t. I’ll get into the numbers and trends separately.

This is simply my take, shaped by everything I’ve seen over the past year and by countless conversations with people across the industry. Buyers, sellers, specialists, executives. Not just here in the US, but all over the world.

Every platform below plays a role in this market. Every one of them has momentum in different ways. And as online auctions continue to quietly reshape how cars are bought and sold, how these platforms execute in 2026 is going to matter more than ever.

Here’s how I see it.

Let’s get into it.

The Platforms That Matter in 2026

Bring a Trailer

There’s no debate here. BaT is the behemoth.

Five of their top ten highest sales ever happened in the past year. Two of those came in the final week of December. A 2022 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport. A 1,600-mile Porsche 918 Spyder Weissach in Oryx White. That’s depth, not noise.

But the real story is still volume.
They consistently sell 100+ vehicles a day, nearly very day. The sheer throughput of inventory on BaT remains unmatched.

This is also the first year I’ve seen BaT meaningfully invest in advertising, which tells you they want more. More sellers. More buyers. More scale.

Internationally, there’s still headroom. European sales for 2025 remain modest at just 117 vehicles, with Italy surprisingly leading the way. Tariffs matter, but they’re not the whole story. Not all buyers are US-based. Not all sellers want US-only exposure.

If BaT ever commits fully to international expansion with real boots on the ground, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia all feel like genuine opportunities.

One broader theme I’d love to see BaT, and frankly all platforms, lean into more is education. The savings versus physical auctions are enormous, yet there’s still a large group of buyers and sellers who don’t fully understand how powerful the online model can be.

Cars & Bids

Cars & Bids are selling themselves short as they have huge potential.

They had just one sale enter their top ten ever this year, a 2022 Ferrari SF90 Stradale at $485,000. But focusing on that misses the bigger picture.

They have everything needed to sell higher-priced vehicles. A lot of platforms don’t. Cars & Bids does. The audience is there. The engagement is there. The trust is there.

They also did something important this year by leaning into real-world events. Getting out. Meeting the community. Building relationships face to face. That matters more than most people realize.

On pre-1981 cars, they have to keep at it. Rome wasn’t built in a day. If it’s just the odd pre-’81 car here and there, the audience never forms. Right now, the inventory is too light to build momentum.

I’m extremely positive on where Cars & Bids can go. I genuinely believe they have what it takes to reach 30–50 sales per day this year. Even ideas like weekend auctions, which almost always perform well, could be on the table for 2026.

They have the foundation. Now it’s about conviction.

Collecting Cars

Collecting Cars continues to impress me.

They operate with a fraction of the traffic of the biggest US platforms, yet they consistently convert that attention into global sales. They know how to sell properly priced cars and they know how to sell high-end ones, with multiple $1M+ results including a Ferrari SF90 XX Spider.

They are sellers at heart. Always experimenting. Sealed bids. Offline deals. Hybrid approaches. They’re everywhere outside North America and they execute extremely well.

They’ve explored strategic options in the past, and I can’t help but wonder if this is the year something actually happens. Whatever comes next, they remain one of the most impressive operators in the space.

Car & Classic

Car & Classic is the quiet heavyweight.

They have roughly three times the traffic of Collecting Cars and consistently sell lower-priced vehicles. They’ve been around a long time and built a solid business that’s been through ownership changes and come out sharper on the other side.

They’ve already shown, sporadically, that they can sell higher-priced cars. The opportunity is doing that consistently. The revenue difference that unlocks is meaningful and could materially change the business if they lean into it.

They have the name. They have the audience. The upside is real.

The Market

Recently reacquired from Bonhams (who themselves owned by PE) and back under management ownership, The Market feels like it’s in reset mode.

The question is simple but important.
Can they move from selling a few cars a day to 10+ listings consistently?

If they can, the platform starts to look very different.

PCarMarket

PCarMarket is quietly one of the more interesting stories right now.

They’ve been around for years and built an early reputation around selling Porsches, before broadening out. Recently, a new team took over, completely refreshed the site, and put the focus back where it belongs.

They’re listing 5–7 cars a day today, with a clear ambition to reach 15–20 daily. The new leadership is hungry, focused, and very aware of what has worked historically on the platform.

PCarMarket has sold some truly special Porsches over the years. With renewed passion, experience, and clarity of purpose, it’s one of the platforms I’m most curious to watch next.

Hemmings

Hemmings remains one of the most recognizable brands in the hobby.

The magazines were legendary. The reputation was earned. Over the past year we’ve seen real movement. A better-looking website and the launch of the new Hemmings Motor Club are important steps.

Auctions, however, are still struggling with consistent listing volume. That’s simply where things stand today.

The example I keep coming back to is Old Spice. For years it was associated with an older demographic. Then it made a deliberate shift toward a younger audience. Messaging changed. Tone changed. Distribution changed. And perception followed.

Hemmings has that kind of latent brand power.
The question isn’t whether they can modernize.
It’s whether they choose to fully commit to doing so.

Hagerty Marketplace

Hagerty needed to show momentum in 2025, and they did.

More listings. More collections. More no-reserve auctions. A clear step forward from the year before.

They’re hiring, including for senior operational roles, which signals intent. I’ve been consistent on this point. To really unlock what’s possible, they need a dedicated marketplace team, not one that sits adjacent to other auction initiatives.

The brand trust Hagerty has is enormous. With sharper positioning and a rethink around audience perception, there’s real upside in taking the marketplace to another level. How much focus auctions get in 2026 will be fascinating to watch.

Sotheby’s Motorsport

It’s been a mixed year.

The first half was strong. Momentum felt real. Then things slowed, and ownership structure almost certainly played a role.

Now, with RM Sotheby’s holding majority ownership, there’s clarity.

The question for 2026 is simple.
Can RM feed the platform?

If they can, even selectively, the upside is enormous. RM already touches some of the most important consignments in the world. If Sotheby’s Motorsport becomes a true complementary outlet, listings and sales could scale quickly.

Others Worth Watching

The MB Market remains one of my favorite niche platforms. A great destination for Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts that deserves more traction.

DuPont Registry Auctions is one of the more interesting experiments right now. All no-reserve. A 14-day money-back guarantee. So far, every listing has come directly from them. The real question is whether they can attract independent sellers. If they can, the model gets very powerful very quickly.

SBX Cars has a lot going on behind the scenes. The CEO is excellent and leadership matters. They’ve sold more cars this past year than before and made a pragmatic pivot toward more attainable inventory while adding private sales. Auctions are hard. Every sale is a hustle, regardless of social reach. Where they go next will define them, and 2026 feels important.

Final Thought

Stepping back, what’s clear to me is just how much untapped opportunity still exists across this entire market.

Online auctions aren’t a novelty anymore. They’re not an experiment. They’re not a side channel. They’re steadily, quietly eating into territory that used to belong almost exclusively to traditional live auction houses. Not overnight. Not dramatically. But year after year, sale by sale, seller by seller.

What’s interesting is that none of these platforms are finished products. Every one of them is still evolving.

Some are leaning into scale. Others into community. Some are experimenting with format. Others with geography, ownership structure, or brand repositioning. There’s no single blueprint yet, and that’s exactly why this space remains so compelling.

The biggest takeaway for me isn’t who’s winning today.
It’s that how these platforms choose to execute in 2026 matters more than ever.

Consistency matters. Conviction matters. Education matters. And in many cases, simply believing in what you already have matters most of all.

I’m rooting for this ecosystem. Because when platforms get better, sellers get smarter, buyers get more confident, and the entire market benefits.

And that’s why I’ll keep watching.