Service Des Automobiles Et De La Navigation

What Service Des Automobiles Et De La Navigation does

Service des Automobiles Et De La Navigation (SAN) is the cantonal vehicle and navigation authority of Canton Vaud, Switzerland, headquartered at Avenue du Grey 110, Lausanne. It administers vehicle registration, driver licensing, and — via the online platform encheres-vd.ch — the auction and direct sale of special-combination license plates (car and motorcycle formats), under Article 20 of the RE-SAN regulation (BLV 741.15.1, 2016) and directives of March 2, 2020. The platform is operated by technology partner KYBERNA AG and supports self-serve registration, real-time online bidding with automatic time extension, wildcard/underscore search, wishlist email and SMS alerts, an auction history archive, and an upcoming-auctions preview; physical pickup and registration occur at four regional counters (Lausanne, Aigle, Nyon, Yverdon-les-Bains).

SAN is not a private company but a public administrative department of the Canton of Vaud, funded through regulatory emoluments (fees) rather than commercial revenue. Its monetization is transaction-based: auction fees and direct-sale prices for special plate numbers (with minimum bid increments starting at CHF 50 for motorcycle plates), plus a CHF 25 extension fee for one-year number retention when a vehicle is not yet registered, and separate standard registration charges. The customer base comprises individual residents of Canton Vaud seeking vanity or personally significant plate combinations, plus a secondary segment of Vaud-registered businesses using distinctive plates for corporate branding or fleet identification. Geographic scope is statutorily limited to Canton Vaud; bidders must have vehicle or domicile in Vaud or register within one year of purchase.

The service runs on a web-based auction platform provided by KYBERNA AG (kyberna.com) with no disclosed AI, API, or third-party model integrations. As a regulated monopoly bounded by cantonal jurisdiction, SAN faces no direct competitive threat, but its growth ceiling is similarly capped by the finite supply of special plate numbers and the geographic restriction to one Swiss canton.

Name

Service Des Automobiles Et De La Navigation

Legal name

Service des automobiles et de la navigation (SAN)

Website

https://encheres-vd.ch

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Service des Automobiles Et De La Navigation (SAN) is a Canton Vaud government department that auctions and sells special-combination vehicle license plates online via encheres-vd.ch, serving Vaud residents and businesses under a statutory cantonal monopoly.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lausanne

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. License Plate Auction Fees: Revenue from auctioning special license plate numbers to residents and businesses in Canton Vaud. Customers bid in competitive auctions for desired number combinations. The service also sells plates via direct sale for numbers that don't qualify as special combinations. Fees are set per Article 20 of the RE-SAN regulation and denominated in Swiss Francs (CHF).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

SAN operates an online auction and direct-sale platform (encheres-vd.ch) enabling residents and businesses of Canton Vaud to acquire special/vanity license plate numbers through competitive timed bidding or immediate purchase. The service is the sole government authority authorized to issue VD license plates, with physical registration and plate pickup completed at cantonal service centers in Lausanne, Aigle, Nyon, and Yverdon-les-Bains.

Product overview

Service des automobiles et de la navigation (SAN) operates an online platform for selling special license plate numbers in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. The platform consists of two primary sales channels: the auction system (Enchères) for competitive bidding on desirable plate combinations, and direct sales (Vente directe) for immediate purchase at fixed prices. Supporting features include upcoming auction previews, complete auction history archives, user registration and account management, wishlist notifications, and advanced search functionality using wildcards. The system covers two vehicle categories: car plates (format long) and motorcycle plates (format haut).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Enchères (Online License Plate Auction)
• Vente directe (Direct Sale of Special Plates)
• License Plate Number Retention Extension

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• KYBERNA AGcoreTechnology or IntegrationKYBERNA AG is the technology provider and platform operator behind the SAN auction website (kyberna.com). They provide the auction software infrastructure, website hosting, and ongoing technical support for the license plate auction system.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Broad incumbents

• California Department of Motor Vehicles: California DMV runs the state's specialty/vanity license plate program alongside general vehicle registration — overlapping with SAN's vanity plate issuance function. It is a broader incumbent whose core mandate covers far more than plate auctions.
• Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA): The UK's national vehicle licensing agency operates a much larger version of the same business — registering vehicles and facilitating personalized/cherished number plate transfers via auction and resale — but at national scale and as part of a broader portfolio. It is comparable in core function but vastly broader in scope and geography.

Direct peers

• KYBERNA AG: KYBERNA AG is the technology partner operating the SAN auction platform and also runs comparable license plate auction systems for other Swiss cantons. It is directly comparable as the platform provider behind identical vanity-plate auction products across the Swiss cantonal landscape.
• Motorfahrzeugkontrolle Basel-Landschaft: The cantonal motor vehicle control authority for Basel-Landschaft handles the same Swiss vehicle registration and plate issuance functions as SAN. It is a direct operational peer across another Swiss canton with comparable regulatory scope.
• Strassenverkehrsamt des Kantons Zürich: Zurich's cantonal road traffic office is the largest Swiss analogue to SAN, providing vehicle registration, plate issuance, and license plate auctions for the country's most populous canton. It is a direct peer in scope and function, differing only in geographic scale.
• Service des automobiles du canton de Genève: Geneva's cantonal vehicle authority performs the same core functions as SAN — vehicle registration, driver licensing, and management of special/vanity license plates — within an adjacent Swiss canton. It is the most direct functional peer in the same jurisdiction type and country.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/service-des-automobiles-et-de-la-navigation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Service Des Automobiles Et De La Navigation