Southeast Asia’s largest automotive marketplace Carro announced the USD30 million investment into myTukar, a Malaysian-based car bidding platform is to digitally enable the traditional used car dealerships across Malaysia, boost inter-city car sales and help local businesses grow.
Established in Singapore since 2005, Carro has since expanded to Indonesia and Thailand to create the region’s largest marketplace for automobiles.
Carro’s regional expansion into Malaysia via myTukar focuses on helping traditional car dealerships connect with private sellers via e-commerce channels. The move is aimed at helping the dealers reach out to a larger pool of private sellers to grow their revenues.
myTukar launched in 2018 seeks to transform the traditional pre-owned car ownership process in the country. Through its ecommerce channel, it will allow private sellers to schedule a vehicle inspection with a sales service agent.
Following which, the platform will help facilitate a live bidding process amongst more than 1,500 dealers that myTukar currently works with nationwide. To provide sellers with a more transparent and worry-free experience, last year the company partnered with a local vehicle warranty provider to offer up to six months’ warranty for vehicles traded on its platform.
“Malaysia is one of the leading automotive markets and most digitally-savvy countries in Southeast Asia, so this was the next logical step for us after expanding in Indonesia and Thailand,” said Aaron Tan, CEO and Founder of Carro. “Through myTukar we plan on working with thousands of dealers across Malaysia to catalyse the growth of the used car market. Over the next few years, we plan to triple their existing transaction volume to over USD500 million.”
“Malaysia’s used car marketplace has been underperforming over the last decade, chiefly due to used car dealerships facing stagnating sales during this period. To grow their revenues, traditional dealerships here must embrace digital technology to reach a wider customer base,” said Fong Hon Sum, CEO and Founder of myTukar.
“Malaysia’s used car dealerships are a pillar of its automotive sector, and therefore we believe our platform can help them bridge the digital divide to reach today’s tech-savvy car buyers and sellers. Carro’s investment will be highly crucial for our vision. With their technological support and regional experience, we believe that we can work together to enhance the digital experience of Malaysian car dealerships across the country.”
