‘Laundries are not wines’: The podcast with Lex Peters (Anac) in 5 quotes
New branches, chains expanding and entrepreneurs investing heavily in technology and customer experience. The carwash market seems to be running at full speed. At the same time, the question sounds: how much stretch is left in the market? In the latest episode of Mobility Energy Talks, Anac carwash owner Lex Peters talked about it.
In conversation with hosts Luberto van Buiten and Paul Blonk (Mobility Energy) and guest Nina Koelewijn (CarwashPro/Mobility Energy), Peters expressed his view that the carwash market is not yet saturated and that a number of branches could still be added. His family business Anac itself grew to 14 branches, 10 in the Netherlands and four in Belgium, with some 325 employees. We summarise the podcast in five quotes.
It’s a bit of an Efteling story.
In Arnhem, Peters had a piece of land, but it was too square and short for a carwash with straight interior track. From his agricultural background, he came up with a carousel with a 20-metre-diameter turntable that fits seven cars that can be cleaned inside. The eighth spot is needed to drive on and off. Peters has patents on it across Europe and North America. “The very best thing about this is the experience. It’s a bit of an Efteling story.”
We’re in the people business, we just happen to wash cars.
The industry is moving towards speed and automation, similar to McDonald’s or the car park. Yet people should not be out of the picture, Peters believes. “Everything is based on speed: the customer wants to spend as little time as possible between entering the premises and exiting the car wash. But you have to be able to recognise if someone is coming for the first time and pay proper attention to that. Speed is important, but keep seeing people.”
Car washes are not wines.
Investing never stops, Peters stresses. “Wine gets better every year, but car washes run backwards.” Those who do nothing fall behind. And that applies not only to chain conveyors, but also to floors and everything around them. “For me, the profit we make is working capital. That money goes back into the business.”
I think a couple more could be added. But somewhere it does end.
Is the market saturated? In America, Peters sees a real oversaturation: there are so many car washes there that they are “fighting each other out of the booth”. “That is not the case in the Netherlands. The industry here has taken consumers by the hand, so to speak, into the car wash, from the big cities to ever-smaller areas. So room for growth is still there, but not endlessly.”
We are really lucky.
On developments around AI, Peters says the carwash market is “lucky”. The car washing itself cannot be taken out of its hands by AI. “Car washing and refuelling will still have to be done on site. But for the business operations around it, such as human resources and laws and regulations, I see it as a very nice tool to manage things better.”
Watch the podcast with Lex Peters of Anac below or listen to it on Spotify:
Also read:
- Podcast with Falcon and Spetters: ‘Unmanned petrol stations create new opportunities for carwash’
- Shine Car Wash Summit Central Europe 2026 comes to Warsaw in October
- Car wash company Loogman tests use of fast chargers at vacuum plaza: ‘Growing solidly’
