Korean rent-a-car service Lotte Rental plans to launch its b-to-c used-car sales channel during the second half of this year, joining many other big businesses, including OEMs, looking for opportunities to expand into the secondhand auto market and digital auto retail.
Founded in 1986, Lotte Rental operates car rental site LotteRentACar and auctions around 50,000 used cars a year to dealers.
LotteRental is looking to achieve 10% market share in digital auto retail in South Korea by 2025, according to media reports.
“We will be reborn as an integrated mobility platform company and entering a used car direct sales platform,” said Lotte Rental CEO Kim Hyun-soo in a report by Business Post.
All the main automakers in the country, including GM Korea, Renault Korea Motors, Ssangyong Motors and Hyundai Motor, are weighing direct sales of used cars to consumers–a field dominated by KCar, which holds an estimated 80% market share in digital auto retail.