New website makes auto shopping quicker, safer

MANILA, Philippines–These days, the Internet is awash with motor-vehicle-dealing websites. But the vast majority of them leave users to their own devices, such as verifying the authenticity of either the seller or the buyer, checking the current condition of the unit being sold, or ensuring the security of the transaction as well as the delivery of the unit purchased.

Now though, Carmudi Philippines has created a new website www.carmudi.com.ph—so that buyers, sellers and car dealers will no longer experience these predicaments. Through this website, individual vehicle owners as well as professional sellers (dealerships) can have their units listed on the platform, and in the process, receive professional support on how to present themselves and their offerings.

The site lists brand-new as well as used cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles. Each unit is presented via multiple images with accompanying descriptions, identifications, and possibly even a locator map of the dealership.

Easy and straightforward

“Easy and straightforward, users can go about our website without much fuss. This might be the reason why after just one year in operation (established in January 2014), we have become the No. 1 dedicated vehicle platform in the Philippines in terms of listings as we are currently managing over 20,000 vehicles from over 1,000 dealers nationwide. At present, our website receives over 500,000 visits per month,” said Subir Lohani, managing director of Carmudi Philippines.

But Lohani believed having the most number of listings should not be the main thing that should define Carmudi.com.ph and Carmudi Philippines. “We ensure the quality of our listings and offer value proposition to both buyers and sellers,” he explained.

Carmudi Philippines is an affiliate of Carmudi, a global player that maintains over 250,000 up-to-date listings, 9,000 of these being vehicle dealers. Carmudi was originally founded in Berlin, Germany, in 2013 under the Rocket Internet Group, which also ventures companies such as Zalora, Easy Taxi, Lazada, PricePanda, Lamido, Lamudi and Tripda.

To cater to more online users, Carmudi Philippines maintains an office in Manila as well as Cebu. “While majority of our clients are here in the National Capital Region and surrounding peripheral locations that include Subic in Pampanga, we are constantly evaluating pockets of liquidity for vehicle listings, and are continuously looking for opportunities to extend our coverage to more cities in the provinces,” Lohani said.

App for Androids

Recently, Carmudi Philippines unveiled a mobile app for Android devices that would allow users to access the website and enjoy all its features through the Internet.

“We have recently updated our Android app to include a ‘seller feature’ so that individual sellers or even car dealerships will be able to place several details as well as post several images of the vehicle being sold, and upload these listings to the website. We have numerous targets that ensure positive results to both the buyer and seller,” he said.

To improve efficiency of the overall process, the website will enable the interested buyer, using either the desktop or mobile platform, to directly text, e-mail or call the individual or dealership.

As an online platform for vehicles, Carmudi Philippines charges dealers of vehicles on a per monthly basis, the amount of which depends on the number of vehicles they want to post. “You can think of this arrangement as a subscription model of revenue. For paying clients, we provide numerous services and data analytics that help them understand in more detail their business as well as their customer base,” Lamudi said.

In years to come, Lohani envisions www.carmudi.com.ph to become a complete one-stop shop for anything related to vehicles such as loans, finding an auto repair shop, tips and tricks for your car, and more. This is why the company is closely collaborating with their clients that include automotive malls, banks, as well as motorcycle dealerships and commercial vehicle importers.

“Vehicles are essentially a lifestyle product. Whether it be the brand, model, make, or color, it tells about your individual personality, so Carmudi Philippines must also evolve into a lifestyle product, which we are in process of doing,” he said.

More information about Carmudi Philippines can be found at www.carmudi.com.ph.