Zoopla Group founder and CEO Alex Chesterman has invested in auto startup Motorway.co.uk, contributing to £2.75 million ($3.65 million U.S.) in seed funding. Venture capital firms LocalGlobe (also a Zoopla investor) and Marchmont Ventures also participated in the round.
Japanese automotive vertical Goo-Net has shared listings of its 400,000 plus used cars with the country’s most popular auto publication BestCarWeb.jp.
In the Czech Republic, Seznam, owner of general classifieds site Sbazar.cz and auto site Sauto.cz, has acquired automotive online magazine Garáž.cz, for an undisclosed amount.
To attract used-auto listings from professionals in France, Facebook Marketplace has partnered with L’Argus and AramisAuto to gain access to their client network of auto dealers, French media reported.
The company operates on what it calls a "source-to-business-to-consumer" (s-to-b-to-c) model. In 2017, Onmmc.com CEO Jiang Jitao 江奇涛 explained the concept in an interview with 36kr.com: "In the process of buying and selling used autos, our primary profit point is service fees. For dealers we provide a source of stock, and we offer services that help them to identify and receive the stock that they need... [for consumers] the other aspect of our business is financing services... distribution and financing [are our two major services]."
Cheduoduo currently has operations in more than 100 cities, and claims to have more one million users across its two major platforms - used auto transaction site Kanche.com (看车网) and new autos platform Shuaiche.com (帅车, AKA, SureAuto). In this arrangement, Cheduoduo appears to be emulating not only the name but also the business model, of market-leader Chehaoduo (车好多), which operates c-to-c used autos platform Guazi (瓜子) and new autos site Maodou (毛豆新车网).
Total revenue grew by 52.3 percent year-over-year to 2.17 billion RMB, driven by a more than 100 percent year-over-year increase in transaction revenue, reaching 1.17 billion RMB. Gross profit in the first quarter of 2018 was 1.35 billion RMB ($215.2 million U.S.), a 34.3 percent increase from the corresponding period in 2017.
British auto site Cazarr.com has launched, offering dealers an advertising portal where they can list a vehicle for 24 pence ($0.32 U.S.) a day. Listings are free for private sellers, and for professionally sold vehicles priced under £1,500 ($2,000 U.S.).
Naspers’ Otomoto.pl, the largest auto site in Poland, will allow business users to export their listings to OLX.ua. The move is due to Otomoto's popularity in Ukraine, where 1.35% of the site's visitors are based.
Cox Automotive has named 30-year fintech veteran Marianne Johnson as its chief product officer, the company announced Monday.
