BID4CARS
Tech Investments to be Rolled Out in 2019 PRODUCTION: David Napier
Following a significant investment into its technology offering, South Africa’s leading vehicle auction and management company, Bid4Cars, is set to roll out a new and improved system in the first half of 2019. GM, Mike Scarth talks to Enterprise Africa about the company’s ongoing success.
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There is an emerging trend in South Africa’s automotive industry that is helping big-name dealerships streamline their stock and contributing to the development of the lower-end of the market by assisting smaller dealers access supply of quality vehicles for their forecourts. Consider the situation; you head to your local dealership – a big name from South Korea. You take your current bakkie, a reliable model from a Japanese brand, and complete the trade in. You get a shiny new car, and the dealership is left with your old vehicle.
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The dealership could sell it, but it’s not their brand, it’s not brand new, and it may not be what their target audience expects. So, they need to find another way to dispose of the vehicle while still generating revenue. The answer: Bid4Cars, a Johannesburg-based, business-tobusiness, vehicle auctioning and management organisation. Founded in 2008 in the Western Cape, Bid4Cars has grown steadily, accelerating its reputation each year thanks to a constant focus on technological leadership and frequent development of critical mass.
The idea of auctioning was experimented with by a small pool of dealerships and the goal was to be fair and transparent. Dealerships were finding that they were cornered by a handful of buyers that would determine the prices of vehicles. It made sense to grow a platform that would bring a larger pool of buyers into play. The virtue of that meant that the buyer market would grow and the result of that was that vehicle value was determined correctly. Instead of being cornered by a handful of dealers, these companies were exposed to a much greater pool of buyers.
