Many believe that technology has already changed the most vital aspects of the auto industry and that the present developments are just “enhancers’. They create a positive experience for the consumer, but you wouldn’t be missing the opportunity to experience anything without them.
In any case, the technology industry continues to stir things up in the auto-related consumer market, even though it has nothing directly to do with the production of a car in and of itself. For example, the ride-hailing industry. Taxis have been around for a long time and have also had customers who call them. The only thing tech could do was provide users the confidence that no matter where they live in any city served by a ride-hailing company, it will have a taxi waiting to take them there with the press of an icon. Technology also arranged taxis that were already on the road and put them under one umbrella so that they’re easily accessible via”a “marketplace or “platform in the present.
One of these platforms is Malaysia-based Carsome, which brings car dealers and owners together in one place.
In general, if someone wanted to sell their old car, they’d have to go through the lengthy and difficult process of having their vehicle checked and assessed to determine whether it worked before visiting a number of local, independent dealers to negotiate a fair selling price for their used car.
In addition, one must visit multiple dealers to obtain various quotes so they can choose between the most expensive ones.
Carsome claims to be an all-in-one shop for the procedures. Carsome inspects cars in-house and then accepts dealers to bid through its platform. The company also handles all documentation for both sides.
“We are trying to solve the problem that both the used car dealers and retail mom-and-pops face; reliant on brokers to buy/sell a used car, resulting in a considerable discrepancy between buying and selling price, where most of the profit goes to the middleman. Not to mention the hassle one has to go through to just getting their car sold,” says Eric Cheng, co-founder and chief executive officer of the company, when he spoke to the magazine Entrepreneur Asia Pacific.
“Dealers are actually increasingly using us to source for their inventory without the worry of problematic cars, and sellers are coming to us to sell their car due to the hassle-free journey as well as our transparent pricing mechanism,” the CEO says.
Carsome has received over $85 million in six rounds of funding, sourced from investors such as MUFG Innovation Partners and Convergence Ventures, as per Crunchbase.
Challenges Faced
The company currently has more than 6,000 used car dealers in the areas where it is present.
However, one of the major issues it had to overcome in its early days was convincing buyers that its platform was trustworthy and would enable sellers to connect with buyers.
“Getting dealers and sellers actually to use and trust this new product in the market was not an easy task, especially since we were the first movers in this segment,” Cheng claims.
“It took much time to build the trust that our inspection standards and reports were up to standard, and reliable enough to make business decisions for dealers.”
The company is currently sporting a 4.7 from 5 score on Facebook based on reviews posted by 2169 users.
What’s Next
Carsome already has a significant presence across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. At the time of writing, Carsome declared that they were determined to strengthen its position as a market leader in those three markets.
The company completed its 50 million in its series C financing round in December of the year before and has received proceeds which it plans to utilize to expand into further Southeast Asian cities, such as the Philippines and to build an all-encompassing used car market that includes the buying and selling of cars financing insurance, as well as the underwriting of a warranty for used cars.
“Our vision is to create an end-to-end auto marketplace platform in the region that will deliver the best experience to both our dealers and consumers,” the CEO said.
The company is operating profitably in Malaysia but not in the other countries it’s working in. Still, it is expected to make a profit in those markets before the end of 2020.
Philosophy Behind the Company Name
The name “Carsome blends “car” and “awesome” aawesome ” is the standard for customer service that the company strives to offer its clients, Cheng tells us.
