In early April, the classified ad market platform, Carousell Group, launched Carousell Auto Group as part of its move to deepen its dominance in the Southeast Asian automotive industry.
The car vertical is apparently the largest vertical of the Group, which contributes a third of its income.
“Carousell Auto Group is the most visited car rating platform in our markets, which means we have the highest traffic from high-intention audiences,” said Gaurav Bhasin, the Carousell Group’s new chief strategy officer. who also serves as CEO in Malaysia.
“Our diversity and breadth of products and categories within cars provides deep value to users and ensures great visibility. Our goal is to build on this loyalty to provide our users with an experience similar to e-commerce in terms of the car ecosystem in cars and beyond ”.
In this new position as strategy director, Gaurav’s role is to lead the strategy and execution of Carousell Auto Group. He brings a dozen years of expertise in the classified space, having successfully transformed Mudah into a profitable business.
Reimagining the car market industry in SEA
When asked about the group’s business model, Gaurav explained that they have two basic models. The former is classified as an ad fee, along with a commission for value-added services. The second is for transactional services, in which a remuneration model is applied.
Carousell Auto Group consolidates individual car brands in the market: Mudah Auto in Malaysia, Cho Tot Xe in Vietnam, Carousell Auto in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore, with the innovative OneShift and Revo Financial transactional platforms in a regional push to accelerate the growth of the verticals and create impact for users.
“This is an indication of our ambition to re-imagine the experience of buying, selling and owning cars across the region,” Gaurav said.
According to the company, its vision is to turn “buying, selling and owning vehicles into a magical experience for middle-class Southeast Asian consumers.”
So how does the Group intend to create this “magical experience”?
We have been developing our artificial intelligence capabilities so that users can set up detailed lists of trouble-free cars with a few taps, expanding partnerships so that second-hand car conditions can be seamlessly certified with a guaranteeing and increasing the capacity of our large historical data sets. to improve the ability of users to get a fair price.
We have OneShift, Revo Financial’s pioneering transactional models in Singapore and continue to push the needle with new innovations to improve the vehicle buying journey and strengthen the vehicle ownership journey with the best of the Carousell ecosystem of car categories , including workshops, accessories and services.
– Gaurav Bhasin, strategy director of the Carousell group
With the acquisition of OneShift, they have launched Carousell SwiftQuote, a C2B bidding platform that allows Singapore car owners to sell their cars to dealers in our network and get the best prices from their dealers.
It also aims to improve the journey of buying vehicles with financial services through Revo Financial.
Covid-19 pushes more people to buy and sell online
In an interview with Vulcan Post, Gaurav acknowledges the huge potential of the car market.
“What really excites us is really reimagining it as a completely online model; this is where we come in with our experience as the largest online ads in the region and what we’re doing at the forefront of the recommendation in other verticals “.
With the world recovering from the effects of the pandemic and the many effects it has had on the economy, Gaurav believes that second-hand cars are regaining focus.
COVID-19 has definitely redesigned our world and the way we navigate it. People are more open to buying and selling online. Why not cars, especially in a region that has the fastest growing middle class.
– Gaurav Bhasin, strategy director of the Carousell group
He added that by 2030, the number of middle-class consumers in Southeast Asia will more than double to 135 to 334 million. These users will not only want access to cars as ways to get around comfortably, but will also expect convenience and transparency in e-commerce in their car transactions.
Recognizing that Covid-19 has accelerated the trend of users to buy and sell online, including car ones, Gaurav said the Group wants to take “one step further” to boost its car brands with transactional models to simplify the purchase, sale and ownership of vehicles.
“Our car brands are leaders in Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, and we have the ambition to translate this profound experience to become the number one ranked ad player in Singapore and Hong Kong in the next three years.” .
Used cars are a key goal right now
With the formation of Carousell Auto Group, Gaurav said it will make substantial investments to increase transformation and develop partnerships in its markets.
He continued to share more details about these partnerships, but simply said that partnerships throughout the car ownership value chain will help them position themselves perfectly to continue to grow to be the leader in the vehicle space. classified.
For now, used cars are a big focus for the company.
In accordance with Mordor Intelligence, the car rental market in Southeast Asia is expected to record a CAGR of approximately 6.7% over the projected period from 2020 to 2025.
Consumers are unwilling to invest heavily in newer products and choose to buy used products. As a result, the used car industry is growing. In addition, used vehicle platforms have proven to be widely safe, accessible and available at reasonable prices.
Sales of used cars are also 1.3 times compared to those of new vehicles and this ratio is expected to double over the next decade. Several factors, including population growth along with economic growth, make Southeast Asian counties the fastest and also an attractive economic market for investors.
One of the biggest barriers to second hand is trust, and it is an important focus for us in all of our categories as a classified ad market. We are taking the same approach for the first time to Carousell Auto Group and prioritize trust to ensure that users can make transactions with peace of mind, especially when buying second hand.
– Gaurav Bhasin, strategy director of the Carousell group
Lucas Ngoo, co-founder of Carousell, also shared his ambitions to transform Carousell Auto Group into a “one-stop shop for everything related to the car”.
“Soon, our users across the region will be able to sell and buy their cars quickly and smoothly and will have access to the entire car ecosystem of workshops, accessories and services.”
Preparing for the EV revolution
In addition, Singapore has announced that it will phase out internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2040.
Gaurav is not surprised by this gradual elimination and, instead, considers that it is a “step in the right direction.” After all, electric vehicles are already rapidly gaining popularity in many parts of the world, he added.
By 2040, technology will continue to advance by leaps and bounds, which is likely to make ICE vehicles obsolete. By then, there will likely be infrastructure to support electric vehicles (EVs), which will make ownership much more convenient.
As a classified ad marketplace, we reflect and are very malleable in adapting to the needs of users. As users move toward electric and hybrid vehicles, our content and search experience will be tailored directly to those needs.
– Gaurav Bhasin, strategy director of the Carousell group
As more electric cars are sold on its platform, Carousell Auto Group will work on updating its platform accordingly to better meet the needs of electric vehicle dealers, such as having specific smart attributes of electric vehicles with specifications such as load capabilities, EV and Niro mileage. EV.
“There also needs to be strong partnerships with carmakers to ensure this transition is possible. Ensuring strategic partnerships is a major focus for Carousell Auto Group and we will make announcements in the coming months.”
Featured Image Credit: Carousell
